Tom Lewis

 Australia's Coastal War

by

Tom Lewis

For the first time, acclaimed military historian Dr Tom Lewis OAM uncovers the full scale of World War II’s forgotten battles along our coastline.

From German surface raiders laying deadly mines to Japanese submarines prowling offshore and enemy aircraft launching hundreds of attacks, the war on the coast stretched across thousands of kilometres—from Darwin to Hobart, from Townsville to Melbourne.

This landmark book rewrites history, revealing a long and brutal struggle between German and Japanese forces and those of Australia, Britain, and the United States. Scores of ships were sunk, thousands of lives lost—yet much of this story remains unknown.

Among the tragedies are gripping accounts of heroism and heartbreak: the sinking of the cruiser Sydney with 645 lives lost in a duel with the raider Kormoran; a deadly mine explosion on a quiet South Australian beach; and the haunting fate of a priest abducted and executed by an enemy floatplane crew.

There are also tales of misjudgement and misadventure—like the flawed decisions during the Sydney midget submarine raids, partly redeemed by the courage of small ship commanders whose bravery remains unrecognised. Other stories are only now coming to light, including the daring attack by two RAAF bombers on a Japanese submarine still lost off the coast of New South Wales.

Australian Coastal Wars reveals it all—a sweeping and deeply human account of a war far closer to home than most Australians ever realised.

It took me a few pages to settle into this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it. When Australians talk about the war, we usually hear about Papua, Crete, Greece, Malaya, the Thai–Burma railway, and the fighting in North Africa, along with a handful of well‑known naval actions. What Tom Lewis does here is shine a light on the lesser‑known parts of Australia’s war — the events that unfolded close to home.

He digs into the smaller engagements: the bombings, the merchant and naval ship sinkings, and the scattered incidents that rarely make it into mainstream histories. Yes, the book covers the bombing of Darwin, which everyone knows, but it also reveals the 50‑plus other raids on the Top End that almost never get mentioned.

Then there are the midget submarines that slipped into Sydney Harbour, another familiar story — but Lewis goes further, exploring the submarine attacks that occurred all along the east coast, episodes I’d barely heard of.

The book is packed with these smaller, fascinating details, many of which were completely new to me.

Well worth the read. 4/5

Kirk Hamilton

 Somebody Owes Me

by

Kirk Hamilton

(Keith Hetherington)

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Ward Tracy found that out the hard way, when he chanced across a man in the desert who was more dead than alive, and against all the odds nursed him back to life. Before he knew it, however, he was accused of being an outlaw named Al Danton and standing trial for his very life.

What made it worse was the fact that the local lawman, a seedy prosecutor and a greedy judge all knew the truth, but they wanted to show the good folks of Darby that they knew how to deal with hardcases … with hang-rope.

Ward survived, though. He served five years in prison, breaking rocks day after day, week after week, month after month, in all weathers, and when he was finally released, he remembered the lawman, the prosecutor and the judge. And he decided that somebody owed him, big-time – and they were all going to pay the ultimate price.

Ward Tracy saves a dying man on the trail, only to discover he’s a notorious outlaw. Before Ward can explain, the local sheriff brands him as Al Danton, another wanted outlaw. The trial is a sham, the sentence is swift, and Ward is handed five years in prison. Lucky for him, because the rope was already waiting.

But prison didn’t kill the fire inside him. Three years later, after a desperate escape attempt, the truth finally surfaces and Ward walks free with a full pardon. Now he’s riding out to settle the score with the men who stole his life.

It isn’t simple. The crooked sheriff who framed him is running for mayor, and his hand‑picked man now wears the badge. Ward has enemies in every direction and none of them intend to let him live.

Then there’s the outlaw’s dying secret: a hidden cache of stolen loot. Everyone who knows about it wants their share, and Ward is caught in the middle. Greed, revenge, and old grudges collide, building toward a final gunsmoke showdown where only one man walks away.

This will be available from Piccadilly publishing through Smashwords when published. 

Norman A. Fox

 Tall Man Riding

by

Norman A. Fox

Larry Madden came back to settle a score written in blood.

Years ago, powerful rancher Tucker Ordway had Larry whipped, shamed, and driven out of town, stealing his pride and the woman he loved in one brutal stroke. Now Larry is riding back into hostile country with a hard hand, a loaded gun, and no intention of leaving until Ordway pays. But Corinna Ordway is no longer the girl he lost, and the town that once turned its back on him is sitting on a fuse.

Land claims are being challenged. Old enemies are choosing sides. And Tucker Ordway’s empire may be weaker than anyone dares admit. As gun smoke thickens and betrayal closes in, Larry’s quest for vengeance becomes a fight for survival, justice, and the only woman who ever had the power to make him forget his hate.

He came home to destroy one man. But revenge has a way of demanding everything.

Tuck Ordway was a hard, mean son of a gun, the kind who’d whip a man and think nothing of it. He’d done just that to Larry Madden, and Madden had sworn he’d kill him for it if it was the last thing he ever did.

When Madden came back, he had a plan. Simple enough: kill Ordway. But he wasn’t alone. A sharp lawyer had uncovered secrets that could tear Ordway’s empire apart—literally.

Enemies were everywhere, and a bullet in the back was easier to come by than one in the front. Plenty of folks were waiting for their pound of the old man’s flesh.

Then there was Corinna Ordway, once the love of Madden’s life, now married to another man, a man framed for murder.

Madden’s revenge would have to wait. Because before it was over, he’d be fighting for the man he meant to kill, not against him.

The story moves fast, and Fox keeps the tension tight. The book’s pace and grit make it clear why Hollywood came calling. The Randolph Scott film stays mostly true to the source, though a few sharp differences stand out, ones you’d only catch if you’ve seen the movie.

Fox delivers another lean, hard Western that earns its place on the shelf and on the screen.5/5

Published by Wolfpack Publishing, it can be found here!  

Dave Waldo

 Once in the Saddle

by

Dave Waldo

ONE RANCHER. ONE HOSTAGE. ONE LAST BLOODY SHOWDOWN!!

Johnny Ross thought he'd buried his gunfighting days for good. Now he had a wife, children, and a hard-earned spread of his own — a peaceful life worth protecting at any cost.

But peace was dying across the range. The new Maverick Bill handed every unbranded steer to the ruthless Stockmen's Association, and the big cattle barons wasted no time crushing small ranchers beneath their boots. Honest men were branded as rustlers, driven from their land, or left swinging at the end of a rope. Johnny wanted no part of the coming war. Until he was forced to choose a side. Standing against the powerful Western Cattle Union and its cold-blooded boss, Boone Shadbee, meant taking on men who owned the law, the guns, and the gallows. Johnny could handle a fair fight. But when Shadbee kidnapped his wife, the fight stopped being business...and turned personal. Deadly personal.

Johnny Ross had been told to choose sides. In that country you were either with the stockmen or you were a rustler, and there was no middle ground. Sooner or later he had to make his stand, and when he finally did, all hell broke loose. Boone Shadbee came after him, caught him, and somehow Ross still slipped the noose. Then a stranger rode into town — a man Ross had known long ago. Not long after, Ross’s wife vanished, and from that moment there was no turning back. Everything drove toward a gunsmoke finish where only one man would walk away.

Told in the first person, I found the story strong and fast‑moving. It was my first Waldo, and he kept the pace tight and the action coming hard.

Published by Piccadilly Publishing, you can find it here! 

Norman A. Fox

 Night Passage

by

Norman A. Fox

Five years ago, Grant McLain rode for the railroad until one bad night stripped him of his name, his job, and every chance at the life he wanted.

Now he drifts the Montana frontier playing accordion in saloons, the last man any outfit would trust with ten thousand dollars in payroll money. That is exactly why they asked him. Curly Harbin's gang has robbed the B.C. & T. Railroad blind three times running, and someone on the inside is feeding them every move. McLain is the perfect courier, too disgraced to be suspected, too desperate to say no.

One night. One train ride into the Crazy Mountains. But Harbin already knows he is coming, the darkness is full of hard men with guns, and the only thing standing between McLain and a shallow grave is the grit he buried five years ago and is not sure he still has.

Some debts can only be paid in lead.

I found myself comparing the book to the film as I read, spotting the familiar beats and differences along the way. Once I set that aside, though, the story pulled me in. Grant McLain is hired by the B.C. & T. Railroad to shepherd a payroll through dangerous country — but his real mission is the Utica Kid. The two share a complicated past, and McLain’s history doesn’t end there. Verna Kimball is another ghost from earlier days, and it’s her father Ben who brings McLain back into the fold. Their last partnership ended badly, with suspicion hanging over McLain. Trust is in short supply.

Then there’s Charley Drew, driven by her own reasons for hunting the Utica Kid, adding another layer to the chase.

The question lingers: can Kimball and his people rely on McLain this time? The answer comes in a gunsmoke‑thick finale as McLain faces off against Curly Harbin’s outlaws.

Once I stopped measuring the book against the movie, I settled into an action‑packed, tightly written Western that kept the pages turning.

Published by Wolfpack Publishing, you can get the book here!

Kirk Hamilton

 Rawhide Breed

by

Kirk Hamilton

(Keith Hetherington)

Fate brought wounded gunfighter Logan Keogh to the Rancho Estrella. He certainly would have died had the beautiful Margarita Chavez not nursed him back to health. That put Logan in the debt of the girl and her father, and to repay them, he offered to go after Tonto Ramirez, the bloodthirsty bandit who was routinely stealing Estrella cattle.

But there were sinister forces at work on the Rancho Estrella, men who, for their own murderous reasons, didn’t want Ramirez stopped.

So they decided to kill Logan before he could reach the outlaw’s stronghold.

That wasn’t just a bad mistake … it was a fatal one.

In a land ruled by bullets and betrayal, one gunfighter will deliver frontier justice—no matter the cost.

After killing Lex Weaver—brother of the local sheriff—in a fair fight, Logan Keogh has only two choices: run, or face a man who won’t stop until he’s dead. Keogh chooses the latter and makes for Mexico. But before he gets far, an ambush leaves him wounded and near death. When he finally wakes, he’s in a warm bed at Rancho Estrella.

Once he’s back on his feet, Keogh agrees to hunt down Tonto Ramirez, a bandit stealing stock from the ranch. But nothing at Rancho Estrella is quite what it seems, and Keogh soon finds himself fighting for his life all over again. Add to that Earl Weaver—hell‑bent on avenging his kin and putting Keogh in the ground—and the odds of Keogh making it out alive shrink fast.

A great story: well written, packed with action, and every bit as entertaining now as the westerns I devoured in my younger days.

You can get the book from Piccadilly Publishing here!

Louis L'Amour

 Silver Canyon

by

Louis L'Amour

“You’re not wanted in Hattan’s Point,” Matt Brennan was told moments after arriving in town. “There’s trouble here and men are picking sides.” But Matt decided he wasn’t going anywhere. Not until he found out what the dispute was about, and not before he got to know Moira Maclaren. She considered him nothing more than a drifting ranch hand, but Matt was determined to prove her wrong. To do so, he’d have to solve a mystery that was at the center of the growing violence in Hattan’s Point–a secret that could make a man rich . . . or dead. Probably dead.

They threw everything at Matt Brennan. He was beaten, shot, threatened, even framed for murder — but he never walked away. He stayed because of Moira Maclaren. He intended to marry her, and nothing on earth was going to turn him from that path.

From the moment he first saw her, he knew their story would end at the altar. Her father had other plans, but Brennan wasn’t the kind of man who backed off when told to.

He’d only meant to pass through town, right up until they forced him to choose a side — and then he saw the girl. After that, they murdered his business partner. Then the gunfighter from Mobeetie showed them exactly how tough he was.

I read this book years ago and didn’t realize until now just how strong a story it really is. Brennan’s hardness, his unwavering direction, and the sheer grit he carries make him unforgettable. Moira takes her time adjusting to Brennan’s unusual ways, but she gets there. And Mother O’Hara? She sees the ending long before any of them do.

There’s plenty of grit and action throughout, and Brennan is far from indestructible. He’s beaten badly more than once, and he’s shot — but none of it slows him down. If anything, it reminds you what kind of man he is. It also makes me want to revisit the other L’Amour stories I read long ago.

5/5