Jon Sharpe

 Dakota Deception

Trailsman #217

by

Jon Sharpe

(David Robbins)

Skye Fargo wants to help a lovely heiress...

But where there's no will, there's no way!

Normally, when the Trailsman says "no" to a job, it's final. But wealthy spitfire Charlotte Weldon has the knack for arousing his curiosity. Especially when Charlotte's sister runs off with their father's will--and without it, the family fortune is lost. All Charlotte actually wants now is her sister dead....

And since Fargo knows the truth, she wants him dead, too...

Skye Fargo turned the job down at first, but curiosity finally got its hooks in him. It didn’t take long to track down Darlene Weldon—and even less time to learn the ugly truth. Her family wanted her dead. And once they realized Fargo knew it, they added his name to the kill list.

As if that wasn’t enough, trouble was riding hard in the form of the renegade Moon Killer, a blood‑crazed butcher who left no one alive. For a while, it looked like Fargo might be headed for an early grave.

I’m told that “Jon Sharpe” on this one was actually David Robbins, and it shows. The writing has his trademark pull, tight action, sharp tension, and a story that keeps you turning pages. It’s one of the stronger entries I’ve read in the series.

5/5

 

Jon Sharpe

 Target Conestoga

Trailsman #89

by

Jon Sharpe

(Jon Messman)

Skye Fargo figured the best thing to do for the wagon train of greenhorns was to stop it in its damnfool tracks. If the marauding Cheyenne didn't get them, white raiders would. Add to that the fact that the U.S. cavalry was spurring them on to their doom instead of riding to their rescue, and you had a covey of Conestogas on a one-way trip to hell. To make things worse, the wagon train was led by a hot-headed female too smart for her own good and twice as stubborn. No way could the Trailsman turn her around, and the one way to save her people was with every bullet in his belt...

This adventure sends Skye Fargo out to guide what appears to be a routine wagon train—only for him to discover it’s actually a decoy on two different fronts. The cavalry are using the settlers as bait to lure out the rampaging Cheyenne and break their resistance. At the same time, the expedition’s organizer has his own agenda: he wants the wagon train to draw attention away from a separate wagon loaded with stolen treasury bonds he plans to smuggle into Canada.

Adding to the fun, these pages also feature Jon Sharpe’s other western hero, Canyon O’Grady, and the two protagonists team up to take on the forces of evil. The story is well written, with plenty of action to keep the pages turning right through to the end.

As for the trademark erotic scenes found in the entries, they’re present here but noticeably less explicit than in later volumes—perhaps a sign of how the series evolved over time.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and look forward to choosing my next installment.

Jon Sharpe

 Chimney Rock Burial

Trailsman #207

by 

Jon Sharpe

(Robert Randisi)

Hired to locate the grave of a woman's son, Skye Fargo leads her through the Nebraska territory towards Chimney Rock. But the dim-witted Lacy brothers are not far behind, reckoning they'll be led to some hidden loot. And, as the Trailsman closes in on his quarry, he must decide if he's aiding a grieving mother or abetting a cunning con woman. With time running short, Fargo has no one to trust, except the irons strapped to his legs.

Skye Fargo is hired by a woman searching for the burial site of her child who died twelve years earlier. The setup hints at deeper secrets, but the story never really delivers on that promise. Honestly, I’m struggling to find much to say about it. The pacing drags, and Fargo spends more time between the sheets than in the saddle. Action is scarce until the final 20–30 pages, which is unusual for the series.

The writing itself is solid, but my verdict is simple: skip it—unless you’re a completist who needs every entry on the shelf.

Jon Sharpe

Trailsman #374

By

Jon Sharpe

(David Robbins)

Signet, December 2012

When Skye Fargo gets a letter from an old friend and fellow scout, he finds he's not alone. It seems that every sharp-eyed pathfinder worth his buckskins has been asked to Fort Carlson. But it's soon revealed that someone has brought them together for a very special reason--to take them out, one by one...

The request seemed simple enough: head to Fort Carlson and scout for the army against the troublesome Bannocks. But Fargo isn't the only scout there, and it becomes clear that someone wanted them all in one place for a specific reason. Soon, scouts start dying one by one, and it's up to Skye Fargo to identify the killer and stop them before it's too late.

Overall, it was an enjoyable story with a good mix of mystery and action. The characters were well-developed, though if I had a dollar for every time Bear River Tom said "t$$s," I'd be rich. Surprisingly, the book lacked the usual amount of intimacy found in a Fargo story—there was only one scene instead of the usual two or three. Nevertheless, it was a well-written and engaging tale.

I finished this story in just a couple of sittings. It kept me hooked and made me wonder why I hadn't been reading the series more consistently instead of just a few scattered stories over the years. The dialogue was sharp, and the ending was genuinely unexpected.

All in all, a fantastic western tale. Now, I need to go back and read Mountains of No Return.

Jon Sharpe

 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.