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.

Dirty Tricks - Jamie Mason

Jamie Mason’s highly entertaining new Western series continues with DIRTY TRICKS, the second adventure of trickshot artist, card sharp, and undercover Pinkerton operative Jack Tricke. The year is 1858, and the Pinkertons are working for the United States government, keeping an eye on things in Arizona Territory. There’s plenty to keep an eye on, too, what with building tension between pro- and anti-slavery factions, rampaging Apaches, and a rogue Mexican general who might just try to turn the territory into his own little empire.

Tricke travels with the Hamlin & Crowe Medicine Show, a motley but colorful collection of eccentric characters led by Doc Hamlin, who is also an undercover Pinkerton operative. Before this adventure is over, all of them will be involved in foiling a scheme that could well affect the entire country, not just Arizona Territory.

Mason keeps the action moving along at a satisfying pace, and the long, climactic battle involving a train is great. (Most of you probably have realized by now that I have a fondness for train scenes.) Jack Tricke isn’t necessarily the most likable protagonist you’ll ever encounter—he’s definitely a rogue—but his character is evolving as he continues his assignment for the Pinkertons. In fact, the way the plot and all the characters are developing, I think it would be a good idea to read this series in order. Luckily, that’s very easy to do. The first book is available on Amazon here, and this second one is here. If you’re a Western fan and haven’t checked out this series yet, I think it’s well worth reading.

Trickshot - Jamie Mason

Having edited several of Jamie Mason’s novels and read a number of others, I’ve become a fan of his work. I’d like to think I had a little influence on his decision to move into the Western genre. His first Western under his own name, TRICKSHOT, came out recently, and it’s a great yarn. Here’s the blurb I gave the book after reading it in manuscript:

Part Maverick, part The Wild Wild West, part Spaghetti Western, and all fun, Trickshot is a hugely entertaining, action-packed new Western series from one of the best writers in the business, Jamie Mason. If you’re a Western fan, you’ll have a great time reading this novel. I certainly did.

Jack Tricke is a gambler and expert marksman during the era just before the outbreak of the Civil War. In trouble with the law, he takes the only way out of going to jail: he agrees to work as an undercover operative for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. His first assignment finds him joining a traveling medicine show in Arizona Territory. As you might expect, that provides a colorful bunch of characters to serve as both allies and adversaries for Tricke.

Mason keeps the pace galloping along in very entertaining fashion, and he does a great job with the setting. Jack Tricke is a roguish but likable protagonist, and this novel sets up an ongoing storyline that will carry him to the brink of the Civil War and probably beyond. I really enjoyed TRICKSHOT and look forward to seeing what happens next. This one is available in an e-book edition from Amazon and gets a high recommendation from me.

The North Atlantic Protocol - Jamie Mason

Regular readers of this blog know that I have a great fondness for good, old-fashioned secret agent yarns of the type that were so popular during the Sixties and Seventies. I also enjoy nautical adventures. Throw a little history in, too, and I’m a very happy reader. That explains why I thoroughly enjoyed THE NORTH ATLANTIC PROTOCOL by Jamie Mason.

This story is told from the point of view of a British submarine commander who’s ordered to deliver a mysterious agent known only as the Warlock to a designated point in the far North Atlantic where, as far as anybody knows, there’s not anything. On the same mission, the British sub is supposed to rendezvous with a Russian counterpart for a goodwill/public relations meeting. Well, you know there’s got to be a lot more to it than that, and the two missions are bound to intertwine more than they appear to at first . . . and you’d be right. There’s an island that’s sometimes there and sometimes not there, and a hatch leading into an underground bunker filled with sinister equipment, and an enigmatic hero in the Warlock who, evidently, is also more than he seems to be at first.

I don’t mind telling you, I had a big grin on my face as I read this book. It’s a contemporary thriller but has a tone reminiscent of Ian Fleming and Alistair Maclean (early Maclean, when he was still one of the best thriller writers ever). The Warlock is a James Bond type of character, while the sub commander reminded me of Maclean’s tough, courageous, but more down-to-earth protagonists. Mason blends the two of them expertly and keeps the action moving at a very nice pace. I had a great time reading THE NORTH ATLANTIC PROTOCOL, and if your taste is anything like mine, I think there’s a good chance you would, too. Highly recommended.