Louis L'Amour

Horse Heaven

by

Louis L'Amour

 (Collected Short Stories Volume 2)

When Jim Locklin discovers his brother George’s remains on the floor of a cave, he vows to uncover who killed him—and why. Was it one of the powerful ranchers in the territory? Or the woman George married on the very day he vanished? And how did the silver figure into it all? Jim intends to get answers, and before he’s through, he gets every last one.

I’ve read plenty of L’Amour’s full-length novels, but not many of his shorter pieces. This one was a standout. Tight, well-crafted, and packed with action for its length. A solid 5/5.

Some short stories just stand out. This is one of them. 

Redbelly Crossing

 Redbelly Crossing

by

Candice Fox

Blood is thicker than water. But too much leaves a trail . . .

Russell and Evan Powder are cops.

The brothers haven’t spoken for five years, since a violent confrontation tore their family apart.

Now they are both assigned to the murder of a young journalist, Chloe Lutz, in the small town of Redbelly Crossing (population 205).

It’s the last thing Russell wants. This is supposed to be the week he repairs things with his teenage daughter Bridie. Now he’s had to drag her on a murderous ride-along to the middle of snake-infested nowhere.

But a big case like this is just what Evan needs after a terrible mistake nearly tanked his career.

Then a dark discovery leaves Evan with only one way out; to bury the truth Russell is so determined to uncover ...

I always enjoy a good Aussie mystery or detective novel, and this one definitely delivered in many ways. The characters are strong, the writing is sharp, and it’s an easy book to sink into. Still, something held it back from being a great read for me. Maybe it was the alternating perspectives between the brothers while still staying in first person, or perhaps it was that the men in the family weren’t as likeable as I’d hoped.

That said, it was far from a bad book. I’m sure plenty of Candice Fox fans will absolutely love it. And it certainly hasn’t put me off — I’m diving into High Wire next.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this story.  

The Lonely Gun

The Lonely Gun

by

Gordon D. Shirreffs

Case Hardesty had to cross what the Conquistadors called the Devil's Highway on foot—or die. It was the highest, driest, meanest desert in northern Mexico. Hot on the trail behind him were the outlaws he'd taken for $20,000—and behind them the lawmen who had sworn death to the lot of them.

In one hand he held a Winchester, and in the other a salt sack stuffed with enough bills to buy a ranch in Sonora—if he made it. If he didn't, well, there was plenty of space for a grave out on the Devil’s Highway…

Hardesty’s fellow outlaws tried to gun him down, but they failed. He staggered off into the desert with nothing but his life, his guns, and their shares of the loot. Before long he was half-dead and wishing one of those bullets had found him. Only the survival tricks he’d picked up from the Indians kept him clinging to life.

That’s when he crossed paths with three travelers: two women and a man. One woman was the man’s wife, the other his mistress. Two of them were trouble. The third was the sister of the Conchos Kid, a gunslinger riding hard on their trail. Add a relentless posse to the mix, and Hardesty found himself fighting like hell just to stay breathing.

Another solid, fast-paced tale from Shirreffs, full of tension, shifting loyalties, and action that builds steadily toward a smoky, gun-blazing finale.

I read the paperback of this story but it is available here from Wolfpack Publishing as an eBook. 5/5.

  

 

Preacher & MacCallister

 Fort Buzzard

by

William W. Johnstone

&

J.A. Johnstone

They were innocent men, slaughtered in the Rockies. A party of land surveyors who met their grisly fate at the hands of the Crow Indians—or so it seems. Some folks think the story is a lie. And now it’s up to U.S. Army Lieutenant Ron Stanton to figure out what really happened up there in those desolate, blood soaked mountains. As his guides, Preacher and Jamie McCallister agree to retrace the footsteps of the doomed party—come hell or high water—but first they’ll have to pass through a particularly nasty piece of purgatory known as Fort Buzzard . . .

Fort Buzzard—officially Gullickson’s Fort—earned its nefarious nickname because of the human vultures it attracts. Namely the brutes and brawlers hired by Gullickson to protect his interests. When a nearby trading post is suddenly attacked—and two young women carried off by Indians—Preacher and McCallister smell a rat. The Crows swear they’re not responsible for the attack, the abduction, or the mountain party massacre. Preacher and McCallister believe them—but proving it won’t be easy. This road to justice only leads to more dead ends—and the biggest, bloodiest showdown in Rocky Mountain history . . .

Once again, Preacher and Jamie MacCallister ride straight into danger. This time they’re escorting a group of soldiers sent to uncover the truth behind the massacre of a survey team—supposedly at the hands of the Crow. But nothing about this mission is as simple as it first appears.

Trouble finds them early when they cross paths with a trader and his two daughters. Emma, fiery and stubborn, immediately clashes with Preacher—especially after he tosses her into the river. Her sister Jenny, couldn’t be more different.

Before long, the trading post is attacked, and the sisters are taken captive. Forced to split up, Preacher heads out to rescue the women, while MacCallister and Lieutenant Stanton push on to Gullickson’s Fort in search of answers about the murdered surveyors.

What follows is a double‑barreled burst of frontier action, with both men delivering justice the only way they know how.

The author once again delivers a top‑notch story. The pacing is tight, the writing flows effortlessly, and the characters—especially Emma—keep the pages turning. She may be headstrong and exasperating, but she’s unforgettable. Jenny provides a perfect contrast, adding balance to the cast.

If this truly is the final book in the series (as of 2024), it’s a strong finish. Still, I can’t help hoping there’s more to come. A great read. 5/5

Box Set

  Nine Smoking Guns

By

Brent Towns

Get it here!

Kilraine!

Kilraine: the fast gun who left to protect his family; Grace Jefferson: Kilraine’s wife who was shot when their ranch was raided by night riders; Lucy Jefferson: the daughter he’s never seen; Sam Jefferson: Grace’s father – they murdered him claiming self-defence; Carver Giles: he killed to have it all; Eli Carter: the brave young man who stood up for the town; Utah Williams: Giles’ hired killer….

…. A cast of characters larger than the West itself comes to life in a classic tale of good against evil, in which the final showdown would pit three guns against a living ghost and possibly tear a family apart forever.

Lightning Strike

His name was Billy Swift and he wore a brace of .45s, grips inlaid with silver lightning bolts. They said he was dead, but now he's back . . . For five years it was thought that the gunfighter known as "Lightning Swift" was dead. He'd just crawled off into the desert to die after being wounded in a gun battle with Harley Mossop and his gang. How wrong everyone was. Someone shot the man who saved his life, so the Lightning Colts have been strapped back on. Soon the air is filled with the smell of burnt powder as the gunfighter with the lightning-fast hands returns from the grave. He's mad and is not going to stop until the person responsible is planted in the ground. Then from the past looms a killer. The famous Lightning Swift may not be able to outdraw this one. His name: Laredo Mossop, king of the fast-guns!

Saracen!

Blaine Saracen has returned home to Texas to find his parents dead and his sister taken by Black Ted Allen. So begins a long quest to find his sister. In the course of his journey, Saracen is caught up in a bloody showdown, having saved the lives of two United States Marshals, then is given the job of transferring a prisoner to Fort Smith. While Saracen is gone, Allen reappears with a vengeance, killing and robbing. But the outlaw's luck runs out when he is captured, only to be freed while being transported for trial. Though once Saracen gets word of it, nothing will stop him from getting the man who killed his parents and took his sister.

The Fury of El Tigre

El Tigre - the Tiger. That's what the Mexicans called him. His name was Jim Curtis, and he was a product of the Civil War, who went to Mexico to fight in the Revolution. Now, he just roams the West, riding from one town to the next - a drifter with no home. Then fate intervenes, in the form of a woman named Mary-Alice, and Curtis is soon up to his neck again in someone else's war. Only this time it has brought him face to face with an old friend. The killers think they can beat him. But they've never come across the fury of El Tigre!

The Other Madden

There is oil on Madden land and Bren Deavers means to have it. But when Joe Madden is killed and sent home wrapped in barbed wire, things heat up. For the Maddens are fighters and Elmira and Emily are going to do just that. But Joe also had a brother. One nobody talked about. The dangerous one. They just referred to him as - the other Madden!

Brothers of the Gun

Buford Lance fought for every inch of his B-L connected ranch, so he'd be damned if he was going to hand over a large portion of his Cottonwood Creek range to homesteaders. Instead, he decides to fight again. This time, he hires two of the best guns in the business.

Lucas Kane: The Gun King. They said he was invincible, that there was nobody faster.

Jordan Kane: The Prince. Next in line for the throne. He'd take on any job. It was said that he'd shoot his own mother if the price was right.

One, an out and out killer, the other, his polar opposite who could never commit murder no matter the price. When Lucas Kane refuses the job, Lance has him bushwhacked. It begins an infamous blood-letting talked about for years to come and leads to the change of a town's name in an effort to forget. Ultimately, it draws two brothers into a showdown where only one can walk away.

Will the 'Gun King' keep his throne? Or can the 'Prince' finally get to wear the crown he desperately covets?

Brolin

When Red Mike Stall hijacks the westbound train with the help of his gang and attempts to murder everyone on board, he's shocked to find Brolin, a gunfighter thought to have been dead for ten years, among the passengers. Effecting an escape, Brolin dogs Stall's bloody trail with the help of Emmett King, a greenhorn store owner who lost his son to a stray bullet from the outlaws. In the final showdown, can a dead man win the day? Or will a killer continue his murderous rampage?

Long Trail to Redemption

A U.S. senator and his family have been kidnapped by bandits and imprisoned in the Mexican village of Las Palomas, but the government is reluctant to provoke war by sending troops after them. Joshua Bell of the secret service amasses a team to retrieve the captives: assassin-for-hire Hawk; bounty hunter Wolf McGee; town-tamer Utah Smith; former shootist Walter Cronkite; secret service agent Jess Stuart; and drifter gunfighter Red Kinane. But not all of them can be trusted...

Fury at Bent Fork

It has become known as the Stone Creek Valley war, and for a time the land ran red with the blood of innocents and killers alike. In the middle of it all stands a young man, Chad Hunter, against the murderous bunch called the Committee, trying to halt their takeover of his once peaceful home. The Committee are the four biggest ranchers in the area, and to help them achieve what they want, they hire Slade Johnson and his cohorts to deal with those who refuse to bow to their demands. Then there's "Killer Creel," a cold-blooded murderer who has escaped from prison, and whose ultimate goal is to reap revenge upon Hunter. The Committee had lynched his brother and shot his father down, so Hunter loads his guns and prepares to deal out his own brand of justice. With killers to his front and one closing in from behind, it may just be a war that Hunter can't win.

The Enforcer

 Ride the Lawless Land

Bannerman the Enforcer #2

by

Kirk Hamilton

(Keith Hetherington)

Twenty one thousand dollars ... to get their hands on it, Reno Slade and his gang killed two innocent people and then high-tailed it into the Indian Territory. But they hadn’t reckoned on Sven Johansen’s daughter Anya, who would stop at nothing to bring her parents’ killers to justice.

She knew exactly the way to do it, too. She’d heard of Governor Dukes’ two ‘enforcers’, Yancey Bannerman and Johnny Cato. Though based in Texas, she knew they could flout jurisdiction and state lines, and ride the lawless land until the account with Slade was settled in blood.

She wanted that above all else. And nothing was going to stop her from being in at the kill!

Yancey Bannerman and Johnny Cato saddle up again in the second installment of Hetherington’s The Enforcer series, this time riding into the Indian Nations on the trail of Reno Slade, the man responsible for killing Sven Johansen. Johansen’s daughter, Anya, burning for justice, turns to the one person she believes can help her—Governor Dukes.

Dukes dispatches his two top enforcers to hunt down the killers, but there’s a complication: the strong‑willed Anya insists on going with them. Now Bannerman must not only face a ruthless gang of outlaws but also keep an impulsive young woman alive in hostile territory.

While it’s not the strongest entry in Hetherington’s series, it still delivers a fast-paced adventure packed with gunfights and tension. A solid, action-driven read that builds to a dramatic finale. 4/5.  

Reckoning at Rimrock

 Reckoning at Rimrock

Clay Nash #4

by Brett Waring

(Keith Hetherington)

Clay Nash went undercover with orders to infiltrate the gang of a cold-blooded outlaw named Zach Forrester. To do that, he assumed the identity of a dead man. But from the very start, nothing about his mission went right. To begin with, Clay’s trail crossed that of an enemy from his past who was still itching to get revenge for an old score. Then he wound up behind bars, mistaken for the outlaw he was pretending to be. And then Zach Forrester broke him out of jail, figuring he was an old friend from Yuma Pen. That was enough to tip the balance altogether … against Wells Fargo’s toughest troubleshooter!

Undercover as both a dynamite man and the now dead outlaw Matt Dundee, Clay Nash is in trouble from the moment he rides in. Sheriff Brad Burns is the first obstacle—a man who knows Nash, hates him, and would gladly see him buried. Then there are the Forrester brothers. There were two, until Burns shot Clem before Nash even reached town. Now Burns has Nash locked up, planning to keep him there for as long as it suits him.

But the real danger comes from Zach Forrester, who once served time with the real Matt Dundee. If anyone can expose Nash’s disguise, it’s him. Even if Nash manages to navigate the early threats, he may still fall at the final hurdle—with a bullet in his gut.

Keith Hetherington delivers another gripping tale: fast-paced, twist-filled, and packed with tension. I originally thought this was book #2, only to discover it’s actually #4. Now I need to go back and read the two I missed. A solid 5/5.