Forgotten Books: The Night Hell's Corners Died - Clay Ringold (Ray Hogan)

Clay Ringold was really Ray Hogan, and if you’ve read any of Hogan’s numerous Western novels published as Ace Doubles, you know what to expect from his work: a short, tough-minded, fast-paced action Western yarn, told in a terse, very effective style.

That’s certainly the case with THE NIGHT HELL’S CORNERS DIED, published under the Ringold name in 1972. This one is even tighter than usual, as Hogan compresses all the action into a single 12-hour span. The plot is simple: the respectable businessmen in the former trail town of Hell’s Corners decide it’s time to clean up the lawless element in the settlement, so they hire a town-taming marshal. But he proves not to be up to the job as the outlaws and the crooked saloon owner whose establishment is their headquarters all fight back. When the bad guys go on a rampage that threatens to destroy the town, local ranch hand and former gunfighter Cord Munger, who has put his violent ways behind him for the most part, winds up being the only chance for Hell’s Corners to survive.

This is pretty standard stuff, but Hogan puts a nice spin on it by having Munger be more of an anti-hero than a hero. He’s almost as unsympathetic as the villains and would gladly ride off and let the outlaws run roughshod over the town, if not for a young orphan with whom Munger feels a certain kinship, having been raised in an orphanage himself. Once Munger does decide to take a hand, his plan to battle a much superior force by himself is pretty clever.

Ray Hogan was never a ground-breaking Western writer, but he’s also never let me down. His books are always entertaining. I really enjoyed THE NIGHT HELL’S CORNERS DIED, and if you’re a fan of traditional Westerns, it’s well worth reading.

Forgotten Books: Devil's Butte - Ray Hogan

DEVIL'S BUTTE is another short, fast-moving traditional Western by Ray Hogan. The hero, Dave Bonner, is a small rancher from Arizona who is entrusted by his neighboring ranchers with enough money to buy new stock for all of their herds. When Bonner stops some hardcases from tearing up a cantina, he makes enemies of them. Later, they jump him, beat him up, steal his money (and the money belonging to his neighbors), and leave him to die in the desert.

Bonner doesn't die, of course, and when he gets out of the desert he sets out to find the men and recover the money. That's the plot, and the way it develops is extremely predictable. However, Hogan is so skillful with his pacing and action that the predictability of the plot really doesn't matter. The reader is drawn right into the story and has a great time with it. At least I did. I also enjoyed the fact that the lone female character in the book is pretty much as tough, smart, and competent as the hero.

One minor complaint I have with most of Hogan's books: he has a habit of switching back and forth between the hero's first and last name when referring to him. In this case, sometimes the hero is "Dave", sometimes he's "Bonner". I like it better when an author settles on one name or the other and sticks with it most of the time.This book was originally published by Ace Books in 1967 as half of an Ace Double, but I read the 1993 large print edition from Thorndike. I'll probably be reading more by Ray Hogan in the near future.

By the way, I have no idea why the guy on the cover of the Ace edition appears to be wearing sunglasses. Pretty odd for a Western.

Forgotten Books: The Bloodrock Valley War - Ray Hogan

Ray Hogan wrote for most of the paperback publishers at one time or another, but early in his career his main market was Ace Books, which published many of his novels in the Ace Doubles line, including THE BLOODROCK VALLEY WAR. The hero of this one is Ben Keenlyn, the owner of a small ranch in Bloodrock Valley, New Mexico Territory. When an Eastern syndicate wants to buy all the ranches in the valley and consolidate them, Keenlyn is the lone hold-out who refuses to sell. This puts him in bitter opposition to the other ranchers, who want to take the money and run. The most powerful of them, Pete Amber, decides to force Keenlyn out of Bloodrock Valley, no matter what it takes.

That's pretty much the whole plot. The set-up and the resulting range war fill up this short novel, which probably isn't much over 35,000 words. There's very little characterization. The book is almost all action and tough, clipped dialogue. Even the few female characters are laconic, biting off their sentences like talking hurts their mouths. But for what it is, I found the book very enjoyable. It reads fast, and a couple of minor but well-handled twists insure that not everything is quite as black and white as it seems at first. Hogan was a very traditional Western writer, but he always delivered a satisfying story.