Winter is closing in, and the last thing Jim Bannister is looking for is trouble. He’s already on the run from the law, unjustly convicted of murder, and toting around a $12,000 bounty on his head that has put a pair of killers on his trail. The last thing he needs is to get caught in a tangle of violence involving a wealthy cattle baron, his beautiful and much younger wife, her not-to-be-trusted brother, and a blackmailing saloon owner. But that’s where Bannister winds up anyway, trying to stay alive when there are folks who want him dead on all sides.
BULLETS ON THE WIND is the second novel in the Jim Bannister series by D.B. Newton, published originally as a paperback original by Berkley in 1964 and available these days in e-book and paperback editions from Piccadilly Publishing. I’ve been a fan of Newton’s work for a long time, and I really enjoyed the first novel in the Bannister series, ON THE DODGE. This one continues that streak. It’s an excellent hardboiled Western with lots of gritty action and a plot with enough twists to be interesting. Jim Bannister is a fine protagonist, and the young rancher he befriends is a top-notch supporting character. In another very nice touch, the cattle baron isn’t the villain in this book. Although a little rough around the edges, he’s actually a pretty sympathetic character.
I thoroughly enjoyed BULLETS ON THE WIND, and if you’re a fan of traditional Western novels, it gets a strong recommendation from me. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the Jim Bannister novels.
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