Review: Jubal Stone, U.S. Marshal: The Town With No Tongue - Casey Nash

U.S. Marshal Jubal Stone and Deputy U.S. Marshal Tanner Burns, who work out of Waco, Texas, are sent to a settlement in west Texas to bring back two prisoners. When they get there, they discover that no one in town is willing to talk to them except the two local lawmen. The citizens aren’t unable to speak—they’re afraid to!

That’s the intriguing premise of THE TOWN WITH NO TONGUE, the latest installment in the long-running Jubal Stone series by prolific author Casey Nash. I don’t believe I’ve ever run across this particular plot before, and when you’ve read as many Westerns as I have, that’s saying something.

THE TOWN WITH NO TONGUE has another oddball element to it, and that’s the appearance of a dime novelist who happens to be named James Reasoner. Well, “happens to be” is stretching things, since I knew Nash was going to feature me as a character in this book, along with my faithful canine friend Marlowe, and I have to say, he captures us both pretty well. Eagle-eyed readers will spot a couple of other familiar names, too.

This is a fast-moving, entertaining yarn with a couple of very likable protagonists. It’s actually the first book I’ve read in the series, and I’m going to have to go back and catch up on some of the others. THE TOWN WITH NO TONGUE, another strong entry from Dusty Saddle Publishing, is available in e-book and paperback editions.

Review: Guns of Tascosa - Ryan D. Fowler

Bounty hunters Frank Nolan and Ed Cole find themselves pinning on tin stars for the first time in their adventurous lives as they agree to be the co-marshals of Tascosa, a wild new town in the Texas Panhandle. The respectable citizens are living in fear of outlaw Brett Harding and his gang, and they turn to Nolan and Cole to deliver some law and order and make Tascosa a decent place to live. The new lawmen try to rally the town behind them, but there may be more hidden dangers in Tascosa than the two long-time trail partners are aware of.

GUNS OF TASCOSA is a traditional Western in the very best sense of the term, with stalwart heroes, despicable villains, a little humor and romance, and plenty of well-written action. Author Ryan Fowler, a prolific writer under his own and other names, spins his yarn with a breakneck pace and well-developed characterization.

And then, part of the way through the book, he springs a plot twist that I didn’t see coming at all. This is always a huge bonus as far as I’m concerned because I love it when a book surprises me. Fowler also brings a sense of gritty authenticity to this tale. It’s easy to see that he knows and loves the Texas Panhandle. This is excellent reading for fans of classic Westerns, and I give it a high recommendation. It's available on Amazon.

Review: Jedediah Smith - Alfred Wallon

Alfred Wallon is the most prolific and popular German author of Westerns and historical novels published in the United States. His latest release is JEDEDIAH SMITH, a historical novel about the life of one of the most important figures of the Mountain Man era, and it’s excellent.

Jedediah Smith was a member of one of the first fur trapping expeditions to go all the way up the Missouri River. He helped discover the route to the northwest through South Pass, which became one of the vital parts of the great westward migration. He traveled to the Great Salt Lake and on to California, helping to open up the idea of trade with the Mexican settlements on the West Coast. And he helped scout what became the Santa Fe Trail, leading to a fateful encounter with Comanches. Wallon covers all of this in his thoroughly researched novel based primarily on journals kept by Smith and other members of his expeditions.

Along the way, there’s plenty of action: battles with Indians, clashes with Mexican soldiers, even a fight with a bear. Numerous colorful historical characters from the Mountain Man era make appearances, including Jim Bridge, John Colter, Hugh Glass, Jim Beckwourth, and the Sublette brothers.

Wallon captures not only the epic scope of these explorations that shaped the country, but he also provides a compelling insight into the mind of an explorer, as Smith is always pushing on, looking for something new, wanting to see places he hasn’t seen. The fur trapping business is what led Smith to travel throughout the West, but his own wanderlust comes through clearly as well.

JEDEDIAH SMITH is a well-written, informative, but above all entertaining chronicle of the opening of the West. Alfred Wallon has done a fine job on it, and if you’re a fan of top-notch, realistic historical fiction, I give it a high recommendation. It’s available on Amazon in e-book and paperback editions.

Review: The Guns of Fort Griffin - James J. Griffin

For more than twenty years, James J. Griffin has been turning out top-notch traditional Western novels and contemporary Western thrillers, often featuring Texas Rangers. I’ve always enjoyed his books, so I didn’t hesitate to pick up his latest novel, the first in a new series. Instead of a Texas Ranger, THE GUNS OF FORT GRIFFIN features a new character, Deputy United States Marshal Vic Verdugo, who enforces the law in Texas during the late Reconstruction Era, just before the Rangers were reformed and became the premier law enforcement organization in the Lone Star State.

Verdugo is sent by his boss, a federal district judge, to the lawless frontier settlement of Fort Griffin with orders to tame the town. The U.S. Army is establishing a fort of the same name near the settlement, but Verdugo can’t expect any help from the commanding officer. In fact, the man wants to declare martial law and place the town under federal jurisdiction. With Reconstruction coming to an end, Verdugo wants to prevent the army from taking over, knowing that would just cause more trouble from the resentful Texans in the long run.

It’s a good thing that Verdugo is fast on the draw and skilled with his fists, because he finds himself surrounded by enemies as he tries to bring about law and order. The owners of the saloons and gambling dens and whorehouses all oppose him, of course, and so do the wild cowboys from the trail herds that travel through the area and the buffalo hunters who make Fort Griffin their headquarters. As if all that wasn’t enough, three newcomers show up in town and are looking for trouble. Their names: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Bat Masterson.

The action never lets up for long in this yarn, and Griffin does a fine job of making the fists and bullets fly. Vic Verdugo is a tough, likable protagonist and faces plenty of vicious enemies. There’s also a real sense of authenticity in the setting and historical characters. Griffin knows his stuff. I think this is one of his best novels and recommend it for fans of traditional Westerns. It’s available on Amazon from Dusty Saddle Publishing in e-book and paperback editions.

As an aside, Fort Griffin was a real place and it’s just a coincidence that the author has the same name. But the title, THE GUNS OF FORT GRIFFIN, isn’t really a coincidence because Jim Griffin is, like me, a long-time fan of the Western pulp TEXAS RANGERS. In fact, at one point he had a complete collection before donating it to the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, Texas. And the November 1949 issue of TEXAS RANGERS features a Jim Hatfield novel by Tom Curry writing as Jackson Cole entitled (you guessed it) “Guns of Fort Griffin”. So now you know, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story.

Review: Trouble Percolates in Coffee City - James J. Griffin

James J. Griffin’s latest Western novel featuring Texas Rangers Will Kirkpatrick and Jonas Peterson, TROUBLE PERCOLATES IN COFFEE CITY (available in e-book and trade paperback editions), takes up right where the previous novel, ROUGH RIDERS OF THE RAGGED RIMROCK, left off with a bit of a cliffhanger. Griffin doesn’t take long to resolve that cliffhanger, although it leaves both of his protagonists in fairly battered shape. In fact, once they return to their headquarters in Sweetwater, Texas, Jonas is laid up for a while, leaving Will to deal with their next case alone. It’s a gruesome one, too, involving a mass murderer.

No sooner is that taken care of than our Ranger heroes get new orders: they’re to set out for Coffee City, a settlement on the Mexican border, and corral a notorious bandit whose gang is causing trouble along both sides of the Rio Grande. This mysterious mastermind is regarded as something of a Robin Hood figure by many of the people in the area, which is likely to make the mission even more challenging for Will and Jonas.

And of course, before they even reach the border, they run into more trouble along the way. When they finally arrive in Coffee City, they find quite a mystery waiting for them, and it’s a well-plotted one that results in a genuine surprise when the bandit boss’s true identity is revealed.

You can tell that Griffin really enjoys spinning these traditional Western yarns, and he does a fine job of it, too. Will Kirkpatrick is a stalwart hero, and Jonas Peterson, a provisional Ranger in Will’s custody who’s trying to reform from a brief, involuntary stint as an outlaw, is an intriguing character. The growing friendship between them is handled very well. If you’re a fan of traditional Westerns, I’d recommend any of James J. Griffin’s books. He’s one of the top practitioners of the genre these days.

Review: Kit Sloan, Texas Bounty Hunter #1: Wolf's Crossing - Jamie Mason

I’ve edited several of Jamie Mason’s novels in the past, but these days I read them as a fan of his work. His recent novel KIT SLOAN, TEXAS BOUNTY HUNTER: WOLF’S CROSSING is the first book in a new Western series from Dusty Saddle Publishing, and it promises to be a very good one.

Despite the title, WOLF’S CROSSING takes place in Arizona, not Texas, but Kit Sloan, who rode as a guerrilla with Quantrill during the Civil War, is a bounty hunter. However, in this book he’s not after a wanted fugitive. Instead, he’s hired by a wealthy rancher to track down and recover a very valuable bull that’s been stolen. The rancher sends one of his sons along to accompany Sloan, a stipulation that the bounty hunter doesn’t like but has to accept if he wants the job.

Sloan and the young man pick up a third member of their group in short order: an Apache woman whose family has been wiped out by the same vicious outlaws who stole the bull. Sloan doesn’t like taking her along, either, but again he has no choice. He’d rather have her where he can keep an eye on her.

Their quarry is a young Mexican bandit known as Kid Danny, who is accompanied by his grandmother, who’s just as ruthless and dangerous as he is, and an Irish mercenary. Sloan and his companions catch up to them at Wolf’s Crossing, an isolated settlement near the Arizona-Mexico border, and as you might expect, all hell breaks loose.

This is a very entertaining, action-packed Western. Kit Sloan is plenty tough and hardboiled, but he’s also a likable protagonist. Kid Danny is a great villain, as despicable as they come despite his youth and innocent appearance. There are a few plot twists to liven things up, and the plentiful action scenes are top-notch. This isn’t as bloody as, say, a Piccadilly Cowboys Westerns, but it’s got plenty of bark on it. I had a really good time reading WOLF’S CROSSING. If you enjoy hard-edged Westerns, there’s a good chance you will, too. It’s currently available as an e-book on Amazon with a print edition in the works.