The Wrap Up

2025, like all the years before it, was a mixture of good and bad around here. Health issues became a little more challenging this year and took up more time, but I feel like I’m still in pretty good shape for an old-timer. My writing production isn’t what it once was, but I managed to turn out more than half a million words, which amounted to almost six novels. No short stories this year. Most importantly, I feel like the work is still pretty good quality. My schedule is fairly full again for 2026, but changes are looming. But when aren’t they?

Of course, reading is still very important to me, as it has been ever since I first visited the bookmobile when I was six years old. I read 149 books this year, a nice number but down some from last year. Here are my ten favorite books (not best, necessarily, but favorite) that I read this year, alphabetical by author:

SHARPE’S TIGER, Bernard Cornwell

GANGLAND’S DOOM: THE SHADOW OF THE PULPS, Frank Eisgruber Jr.

RANCHO BRAVO #1: CALHOON, Thorne Douglas (Ben Haas)

THE CHRONICLES OF HANUVAR, VOLUME 2: THE CITY OF MARBLE AND BLOOD, Howard Andrew Jones

LONGHORN STAMPEDE, Philip Ketchum 

SARA AND THE MAD DOG, Stephen Mertz

ROBERT E. HOWARD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A TEXAS WRITER, Willard M. Oliver

SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS, David C. Smith

STORYTELLER: HELPFUL HINTS AND TALL TALES FROM THE WRITING LIFE, Carlton Stowers

’NADA, Daniel Boyd (Dan Stumpf)

At least a dozen more books could have made this list and some of them probably would have on a different day. I read a lot of good books. I believe all of those listed above are still in print and easily available except for the Western novel by Philip Ketchum.

So what does 2026 hold in store? Who knows? I plan to keep writing and reading for the foreseeable future, and I figure most of the other stuff will take care of itself. My thanks to all of you reading this, some of whom have been here for more than twenty years. We’ll see how long we can keep it going.

UPDATE: In response to a request in the comments, here are the other books I considered for my top ten list, in the order in which I read them: THE RULE OF THREES, Jeffrey Deaver; THE ART OF RON LESSER, VOLUME 2, Robert Deis, Bill Cunningham, eds.; ONCE A FIGHTER, Les Savage Jr.; SWITCHEROO, Emmett McDowell; GUN LAW AT VERMILION, Matt Stuart (L.P. Holmes); HAMILTON'S HAREM, William Kane (Ben Haas); THE JOY WHEEL, Paul W. Fairman; KNIGHT OF DARKNESS: THE LEGEND OF THE SHADOW, Will Murray; THE WILD ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, VOLUME 5, Will Murray; OVERBOARD, George F. Worts; THE BULLET GARDEN, Stephen Hunter; THE RED TASSEL, David Dodge; DREAM TOWN, David Baldacci; MARIHUANA, William Irish (Cornell Woolrich); and EYE WITNESS, George Harmon Coxe. Any of these books are well worth your time.

Review: 'Nada - Daniel Boyd (Dan Stumpf)

I’m not sure how I missed this novel when it came out in 2010. I’m sure I read the reviews of it on Bill Crider’s blog and Mystery Scene, and I should have picked it up then because it sounds exactly like my kind of book. Plus, the author and I are acquainted on-line. He’s commented here under his real name, Dan Stumpf, and I’ve commented on his book and movie reviews over on Mystery Scene. But even though it took me a while to get around to it, I’m very glad I did because ‘NADA is a terrific book.

It's set in Mexico in 1936. The title does double duty, since “nada” is the Spanish word for nothing, and in this book it’s also the nickname of the small town of Quenada, which is on the other side of the desert from the abandoned Old Pesos Mine. The mine isn’t completely abandoned, however. There’s a caretaker of sorts, Vernon Culley, a World War I veteran turned bootlegger and gangster turned mining engineer. He’s the narrator, and he provides a colorful, distinctive narrative voice that’s a pleasure to read.

One day a truck shows up at the mine. The two men in it are fleeing from a gang of bandits led by the Serrano Brothers, with whom Culley is acquainted. There’s a shootout, one of the men winds up dead, and Culley discovers that the truck is full of gold bars that were entrusted to the Dutchman who was killed in the battle. He was supposed to sell the gold and return the proceeds to some Dutch Jews who fled to America from the Nazis. One of the group is the dead man’s father-in-law. The Dutchman had hired a Mexican/Indian named Ray to drive him and the gold to its destination. Ray and Culley team up to try to carry out the Dutchman’s mission, since they promised the dying man they would.

Of course, it won’t be easy since they’ll have to battle the desert, vicious bandits, and corrupt lawmen along the way. Not to mention their own mercenary impulses and the guilt that haunts Ray . . .

This is the sort of historical adventure yarn that Jack Higgins used to write, although I think ‘NADA is better written than any of the Higgins novels I’ve read. The author gives us a bunch of superb action scenes but also really develops the characters of Culley and Ray as they work together and get to know each other. They discuss books, philosophy, religion, and plenty of other subjects, but even so, Stumpf never lets the action lag for long and the pace is suspenseful and relentless.

This is the first novel that Stumpf wrote as Daniel Boyd, but he’s done several more since then. It's also the first fiction by him that I’ve read, but I’m going to have to remedy that. Meanwhile, I give ‘NADA a very high recommendation. It's available on Amazon in e-book and paperback editions. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I think it’s a lock for my top ten list at the end of the year.