Gun Trouble at Diamondback

A Bear Haskell Western #1

by 

Peter Brandvold

I wrote this review in 2016. I think this would have made a great series. Currently I think there are 4 books available.

Meet Bear Haskell. He's big, he's tough, he loves the ladies, and he's going to take over where Longarm left off. So if you loved Longarm then jump on the Bear train. I can't see it stopping anytime soon.

In Bear Haskell Peter Brandvold has crafted a top notch new western hero which readers will love and a story that will leave them looking for the next one.

The story sees bear investigating the death of his friend Lou Cameron and the element of mystery will stay with the story right up to the last few pages and have an ending that you won't see coming.

The story is easy to read and keeps you interested until the last page. And as with the Longarm books (Which Peter wrote many of) these are classed as adult westerns and not for the faint of heart.

In all this was a fantastic start to a new series that I'm sure will be around for a long time to come.

Buy a copy here and find out for yourself.

MAKE ME AN OUTLAW

By

Brett Waring

(Keith Hetherington)

A Classic Western #117

First Published 1974

Jim Rainey was an ex-lawman who had settled down with his wife and children to leave his previous life behind. But he gets caught up in a range was and his wife and children are killed he is after answers and revenge.

Once again, a smooth, well told story from Keith Hetherington. As usual with the Cleveland westerns there is plenty of action to keep the pages turning. At only 97 pages per story, they are a quick and fun read.  

Cleveland Publishing Company started publishing their westerns in 1953. At their peak the published 18 digest-sized westerns. Eventually they fell victim to the electronic age and readership fell away. They finally shut their doors in December 2018. 

Cleveland Publishing Company publications: American Wild West, Arizona Western, Big Horn Western, Bison Western, Bobcat Western, Chisholm Western, Classic Western, Cleveland Western, Condor Western, Coronado Western, Dollar Western, Fighting Western, Halliday Western, High Brand Western, Iron Horse Western, Legends of the West, Lobo Western, Loner Western, Peacemaker Western, Phoenix Western, Pinto Western, Rawhide Western, Santa Fe Western, Sierra Western, Sundown Western, Texas Western, The Avenger, Top Hand Western, Tumbleweed Western, and Winchester Western.

Some of the more prolific authors were: Des Dunn, Roger Green, Keith Hetherington, Richard Wilkes-Hunter, Len Meares and Paul Wheelahan. 

 The Man from Bitter Ridge

Universal Pictures 

Release Year: 1955

 Director: Jack Arnold

Main Cast:

Lex Barker as Jeff Carr

Mara Corday as Holly Kenton

Stephen McNally as Alec Black

John Dehner as Ranse Jackman

Writers:

Screenplay by Lawrence Roman

Adaptation by Teddi Sherman

Based on a novel by William MacLeod Raine

The Man from Bitter Ridge is a no-frills Western that delivers exactly what fans of the genre love. It has a principled hero, a corrupt townsman running for sheriff (John Dehner), and a trail of gunfire leading to justice. Lex Barker plays Jeff Carr, a state investigator who arrives in Tomahawk to solve a series of stagecoach robberies. Initially suspected himself, a telegram from a nearby town clears his name. He discovers a town bubbling with political tension ahead of an election and a power-hungry villain who flaunts his authority like the badge he desires.

Stephen McNally portrays Alec Black, a hardened, no-nonsense gunslinger leading and protecting a group of sheep farmers who have united to resist those in Tomahawk determined to drive them out. The farmers become an easy target for blame in the recent string of stagecoach robberies.

John Dehner portrays Ranse Jackman, the refined villain. Once again, Dehner takes on one of his suave badman roles. 

Mara Corday plays Holly Kenton, a gun-toting young woman who is just as tough as the men around her. However, her beauty catches Carr's eye, sparking his interest and the jealousy of Alec Black, who has plans to marry her.

I really enjoy the older westerns, and this one is no different. There’s something about the way they were filmed back in the day that completely captivates me. The lead characters were great, and Dehner was fantastic in his role as the badman.

RATING 8/10

 Lawless Prairie

By

Charles G. West

(Published 2009)

Find it Here!

A man discovers the bloody cost of freedom in this bold tale of the Old West.

Clint Connor only took the horse to stop a man from mistreating it, but a vengeful judge sentenced him to six years. Quietly serving his time, Clint suddenly finds himself free after he’s swept up in a daring jailbreak.  

Now a fugitive, Clint Connor will need courage, cunning, and a cold-blooded ruthlessness as he rides the lawless prairie. But before he can escape to the hills of Montana, he’ll have to outgun malicious outlaws and face a final showdown with a marshal determined to bring Clint back as a prisoner—or a corpse.

Overall, not a bad story and well written as is the usual with West's stories. I've read a few and never had any issues--until now.

Not that it is a big one, what I wrote above still goes about the book. However, I feel like this story went around in circles.

Clint Conner went to jail because he stole a horse to stop it being mistreated. Too bad a judge owned it, and it was the same judge who sent him to prison.

Then he gets swept up in a prison break with killer Clell Ballinger where he secretly saves the life of the guard. Conner decides to head north but swings by his old home to say goodbye to his father.

Now we get to the circle bit. This is the short of it. Saves the life of Marshal Zach Clayton, escapes said marshal, rescues young lady (Joanna) from Indians, captured again by marshal, taken in for trial, sentenced to extra time in prison by same judge, escapes and goes back to young woman before being captured again by same marshal. Meanwhile, Ballinger is still on the loose causing chaos.

But like I said, overall, it wasn't a bad story. But not one of West's best.

Gold Wagon

Jim Steel #1

by 

Jess Cody (Chet Cunningham)

Get it here!

First published July 1986

GOLD! A freight wagon load. It doesn't take a lot of gold to make a ton, and it can be fairly well hidden under bacon, beans and sacks of flour. But not when the hills are full of owlhoots and banditos who know it's coming. Jim Steel, even with a shotgun, a rifle, and a six-gun on his hip is no match for a dozen hard men...or is he?

Overall, the story was pretty good. Jim Steele was after a king's ransom in gold, along with every badman in the territory. Red Paulson and his gang of killers wanted it too. Paulson would stop at nothing to get it. While Steel watched, he and his men massacred an army patrol for an empty wagon. One of the decoys that the army had sent out.

All Steel wanted was the gold, what he got was something else entirely--a deputy sheriff's badge to help out a friend in Bisbee, Arizona. But that didn't stop him looking for the gold wagon  

By the time we get to the end of the story you start to wonder what Steel is going to do with the gold. 

Then comes the twist, one that will break Steel's heart.

 

 Elmer Kelton's

The Familiar Stranger

by

Steve Kelton and John Bradshaw

Hewey Calloway is traveling to a friend's place when he gets caught in the rain. He seeks shelter in a cabin and finds a young man there with smallpox. Even though the young man warns Hewey and tells him to leave, Hewey stays and gets the dreaded disease himself.

While this book was well written and it flowed well enough, it got off to a reasonable start with Hewey, the young stranger, and then the Pinkerton, but it never elevated to the heights I expected it to. Some others may find it good, but for me it just wasn't.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this story.

 Beartooth Incident

Trailsman # 332

by

Jon Sharpe

 (David Robbins)

In the frozen Beartooth Mountains, Fargo is rescued by a kindly wilderness woman named Mary Harper and her children. But when the brutal Cudgel Sten and his gang decide they want what the Harpers have, the Trailsman is going to give the snowbound sidewinders what they deserve.

Before we even get into the story, Skye Fargo was already up against it. Lost in a blizzard in the Beartooth Range there was a good chance he would die. Then he almost did, falling down a snowy cliff until he came to a halt at the bottom. When he'd gathered himself, he'd lost his horse and his gun. The only thing he had left was his Arkansas Toothpick.

However, danger lurked everywhere, and it wasn't long before starving wolves had Fargo pegged for their next meal. But the Trailsman wasn't about to become dog food.

Rescued by Mary Harper and her two children, one would have been forgiven that our intrepid hero was safe enough. But Mary had her own problems. Cud Sten and his men being all of them. Now it was up to Fargo to repay the debt. If they didn't kill him first.

I'm not sure who wrote this story but it was a rip-roaring tale. Plenty of action and suspense--especially the scene with the wolves. If you ask me, that should have been the final act in the book because it had everything you want in a climax.

However overall, I enjoyed the story, and it kept me interested to the very end.  

A Thunder of Drums

Release Year: 1961

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Writer: James Warner Bellah (based on his short story “Command”)

Starring: Richard Boone (Capt. Stephen Maddocks), George Hamilton (Lt. Curtis McQuade), Luana Patten (Tracey Hamilton), Arthur O’Connell (Sgt. Rodermill)

Set in a remote cavalry outpost in Arizona, A Thunder of Drums follows the journey of Lt. Curtis McQuade, newly stationed under the stern and battle-hardened Capt. Stephen Maddocks. McQuade struggles with his inexperience, tangled emotions, and a past romance with Tracey Hamilton — now engaged to another officer. Tensions rise when personal choices ripple into military consequences, especially after a botched patrol leaves fellow soldiers dead. McQuade, burdened by guilt and grief.

As hostile forces close in, McQuade and Maddocks mount a dangerous operation to lure and defeat the enemy, culminating in a harrowing ambush that costs lives and hardens resolve. The film closes with Maddocks offering a cold truth: "Bachelors make the best soldiers because they’ve nothing personal left to lose." 

I really enjoyed this movie and the characters. Richard Boone especially and the tough character he played. Harsh, unforgiving. And Charles Bronson playing a hardened soldier. Not a prominent role but still a good one. George Hamilton plays a young lieutenant, returning to the place he grew up in, whose father was the fort's commanding officer. He also had a past with Maddocks who holds a bitterness towards his former commander. Then there is Luana Patten who plays Tracey Hamilton. A woman torn between two men. One from her past and the man she is engaged to.  

Something here for all western lovers.