Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Coming From Stark House: Three Harry Whittington Westerns


TROUBLE RIDES TALL
Bryant Shafter is the trouble marshal. Town leaders call him in when they need a gun to quiet things down. Which is why Bry settled in Pony Wells. But now the town is under control. They don't need him anymore more particularly, they don't need to be paying his salary. Even his young deputy, Zach Adams, thinks it's time he moved on. So when three businessmen from Gravehead make him an offer to leave Pony Wells to clean up their town, he's sorely tempted. Holding down the law is what Bry does best. Until a young prostitute named Glory is found murdered. Until the town bosses hire their own guns. Until a young buck named Rio, out to prove himself, comes gunning for him. Now Bry's got a townful of trouble.



CROSS THE RED CREEK
Jim Gilmore is on the run from the rumors that plague him. When he is mistaken for a bank robber in Kiowa, Wyoming, he decides to take a stand. He knows he's innocent, so he turns himself in and is acquitted. But he remains guilty in the eyes of the town folk. Still, Gilmore is looking for a place to settle down, and decides that Kiowa is no worse than anywhere else. People will talk wherever you go. But trouble seems to follow Gilmore, and he is soon accused of another robbery. This time he figures it's personal, and if he doesn't find out who's trying to frame him, he might find himself at the end of a noose instead.



DESERT STAKE-OUT
There is an epidemic at San Carlos, and Blade Merrick is riding the medicine wagon across Apache territory. That's when he meets up with Hardhead Charley Clinton, his son Billy, and Perch Fisher... and Valerie, headed out West with her husband. They had all just met when they were attacked by Apaches. Merrick leads them to a water hole he knows about. Merrick has been here before--this is where he found the bullet-riddled body of his brother. Now, he has a new problem, because the Clinton gang wants to go to Fort Ambush, in the opposite direction. And they've got the guns to back up their request. Merrick finds himself torn between the returning Apaches, the desperation of three hardened men, and the most desirable woman he has ever met in his life.



I've read all three of these novels in their original editions, and they're excellent. This is another great collection from Stark House, and with a fine introduction by David Laurence Wilson covering Harry Whittington's career as a Western writer, it's a must for Whittington fans or anybody who just wants to read some good Westerns. Highly recommended, and you can pre-order it now.

9 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

These look good. I believe I need them

Walker Martin said...

Another great book by Stark House. I'll order this from amazon.

mybillcrider said...

Just reread CROSS THE RED CREEK and will have an FFB post on it this Friday. Great stuff.

KGMcAbee said...

Sign me up! Who does not love a good Western?

Anonymous said...

Thanks, James. I think it's great to have all these stories in one volume. And I did notice that you included Harry on your list of the writers who have most influenced you. I like to think of Harry as a musician, and when the beat was rolling, well, his stories would go just about anywhere. And, like a musician, he didn't go back later to make them sound more plausible.

Fondly,
David Laurence Wilson

Anonymous said...

I'm the guy who, a while back on this very blog, was lamenting that he hadn't read enough Whittington Westerns.
This collection will be mine.

John Hocking

Ed McBride said...

Thanks for the tip! Whittington's westerns are hard to come by these days. I pre-ordered this fine collection.

Unknown said...

Looking forward to reading Harry Whittington's westerns and the introduction by David Laurence Wilson
very much. Storytelling at its best!

Unknown said...

Looking forward to reading Harry Whittington's westerns and the introduction by David Laurence Wilson
very much. Storytelling at its best!