Rio Bravo

 Rio Bravo

by

Gordon D. Shirreffs

eBook and Paperback available here

They sent Sergeant Gorse back - lashed aboard his own mount.

They bay carried him - upright and staring - across the parched, hostile wasteland to the very gates of Fort Bellew.

He had six arrows in his back. They had slit him open from neck to thigh, filled him with a stinking, unspeakable mess, and sewed him back together with gut.

This was the savage challenge of Asesino, warrior chief of the Chiricahuas.

Before the sun rose again the gates of Fort Bellew would swing open and its men would ride out after Asesino - down the trail that led to glory - or death!

Lieutenant Niles Ord has more trouble than he can handle. His new commanding officer at Fort Bellew is a tyrant, the man’s wife is a problem of her own, the father of the woman he loves stands in his way, and now Ord finds himself accused of murdering the fort’s former commander.

And that’s only the beginning.

A patrol is wiped out by the Apache warrior Asesino, two women are kidnapped, and the cavalry is lured into a deadly trap beyond the safety of the fort. Pressure mounts from every direction, pushing Ord to the breaking point—so much so that desertion starts to look like his only escape.

Shirreffs delivers another lean, hard‑hitting tale packed with action and memorable characters. Ord makes a compelling protagonist, and the multiple antagonists circling him keep the tension high from start to finish. There’s no wasted space here—just sharp storytelling and relentless momentum.

To see how it all unfolds, you’ll need to grab a copy yourself. A solid 5/5.

The copy I read was from Five Star Paperbacks