Stripped and Branded - Peter Brandvold

Yakima Henry is probably my favorite character created by Peter Brandvold, and he returns in STRIPPED AND BRANDED, the latest novel from Brandvold. Yakima last appeared in the somewhat heart-warming REDEMPTION TRAIL. As you might guess from the title, STRIPPED AND BRANDED is a considerably harder-edged tale.

In this one, Yakima encounters three bank robbers on the run and desperate after killing three members of a posse and losing one of their horses. They want Yakima’s horse Wolf and are more than willing to kill to get him. Of course, this is a big mistake, and all three of the varmints wind up dead. Yakima takes the bodies back to the town where they robbed the bank, figuring he’ll collect the bounty on them (even though he’s not really a bounty hunter) and that money will finance the rest of his trip to Mexico, where he intends to spend the winter.

What he’s not counting on is the fact that one of the robbers was the black sheep son of the woman who owns the largest ranch in the area, and she wants vengeance. There are other things going on, too, but that’s best left to the reader to discover.

Nobody could ever accuse Brandvold of taking it easy on his characters. Yakima suffers a lot in this one, both physically and mentally. The action is almost non-stop, the characters come to vivid life, and Brandvold continues to be maybe the best in the business at setting a scene and making it real. His work always reminds me of some of the great hardboiled Western writers of the past, authors such as Harry Whittington, T.T. Flynn, William Heuman, Les Savage Jr., Marvin Albert, and Clifton Adams, although with a more modern, grittier tone. I give all of his work a very high recommendation, and STRIPPED AND BRANDED is one of his best.

Redemption Trail - Peter Brandvold

 

REDEMPTION TRAIL is the latest Yakima Henry novel from Peter Brandvold, and it’s a mighty good one. Yakima, a big, two-fisted, gun-handy, half-breed drifter and adventurer, is traveling with a partner for a change when disaster befalls them. The old-timer named Pete Cahill winds up dead, but before passing on, he gets Yakima’s promise to deliver a letter and a money belt to his son, far north in Dakota Territory. Yakima sets out to honor that pledge, but it’ll come as no surprise to the readers that he runs into a heap of trouble along the way, starting with an encounter in Denver with some visiting Englishmen that makes him some enemies.

Then there are the two orphaned girls he takes under his wing, one of them beautiful and just old enough to be tempting to a man of lesser moral fortitude than our boy Yakima. Plus the passel of vicious bounty hunters who are after him and willing to kill anybody who gets in their way. With all that and more going on, Yakima will be lucky to reach his destination with his hide intact, let alone complete his mission.

As always with a Brandvold book, REDEMPTION TRAIL delivers plenty of gritty action, colorful characters, and vividly captured settings. Brandvold writes with the soul of a poet and the heart of a pulpster. Yakima Henry may well be my favorite character of his. There are a few places in this book where it seems like ol’ Yakima may be mellowing a mite, but he’s still capable of dealing out a lot of hot lead to the bad guys. If you’re a Brandvold fan, chances are you already have this novel. If you’re not and you love Western action, check it out. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Arroyo de la Muerte - Frank Leslie (Peter Brandvold)

ARROYO DE LA MUERTE, which translates as “Canyon of Death”, is the fourth and final novel in the Bloody Arizona Quartet, a series of four books by Frank Leslie, who in real life, of course, is my old friend and very popular Western author Peter Brandvold. This series features Yakima Henry, a half-breed lawman and one of several characters created by ol’ Mean Pete under the Frank Leslie name. During the course of the series, Yakima has served as the marshal of Apache Springs and gotten involved in a romantic triangle with the two beautiful daughters of local mining tycoon Hugh Kosgrove: Julia Taggart, the widow of the town’s previous marshal and now the proprietor of a hotel and whorehouse in Apache Springs; and Emma Kosgrove, Julia’s younger sister, a wild, tomboyish blonde who like to roam around the wilderness and in the course of her roaming discovered an old Spanish church full of golden treasure that’s been cursed by an Apache witch.

Got all that? Good, because all those plotlines come to a head in ARROYO DE LA MUERTE, which finds Yakima quitting his marshal’s job and turning the badge over his deputy, an old reformed outlaw known as the Rio Grande Kid. The novel opens with a murder which sets Yakima on the trail of the two killers, then goes on to involve several threats to the hidden treasure, which Emma has sworn to protect because of the curse on it.

As always in Brandvold’s work, there are great action scenes galore in this book, and he keeps the story moving along at a very brisk pace, but without sacrificing characterization. Yakima’s struggles in trying to decide between the two Kosgrove sisters are very well done. I wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to make that choice! Everything builds up to a satisfying conclusion, and while the Bloody Arizona Quartet may be over, I have a hunch we haven’t seen the last of Yakima Henry. I hope not, because I really enjoy reading about his adventures. ARROYO DE LA MUERTE gets a high recommendation from me.

Bloody Arizona #3: Chiricahua Blues - Frank Leslie (Peter Brandvold)

Half-breed lawman Yakima Henry and the rest of his friends and enemies in the town of Apache Springs are back in CHIRICAHUA BLUES, the third book of Peter Brandvold's epic four-part series BLOODY ARIZONA. In this novel, Brandvold (writing under his familiar pen-name Frank Leslie) follows two storylines. In Apache Springs, Marshal Yakima Henry deals with the arrival of the long-awaited spur railroad line, as well a new threat to the mysterious old Spanish mission filled with gold that's played a part in the previous books. At the same time, Yakima's deputy, the reformed outlaw known as the Rio Grande Kid, is trying to deliver a prisoner by stagecoach, only to have the coach attacked and pursued by vengeful Apaches out to kill the Kid's prisoner and anybody who gets in their way.

As always in Brandvold's work, action abounds, and nobody in the business today writes better action. Also, Yakima and the Kid are both very likable characters, and the on-going romantic triangle involving Yakima and the Kosgrove sisters, Julia and Emma, is as intriguing as ever. These are great stories told in a distinctive voice, and I really enjoy them. CHIRICAHUA BLUES gets a high recommendation from me.

Wildcat of the Sierra Estrada - Frank Leslie (Peter Brandvold)

A couple of years have passed since the events that took place in BLOODY ARIZONA, the first of a quartet of related novels featuring Yakima Henry, the popular Western adventure character created by Frank Leslie (who we all know is really our old friend Mean Pete Brandvold). The town of Apache Springs has been rebuilt after much of it was burned down by outlaws, and in fact the settlement is booming. Yakima has settled into the marshal's job, and his deputy is still the old outlaw known as the Rio Grande Kid. He's also settled into a relationship with Julia Taggart, the beautiful widow of the former marshal and the daughter of mining magnate Hugh Kosgrove.

Julia isn't Kosgrove's only daughter, however. Julia has a younger sister, Emma (the wildcat of the title), who has also been romantically involved with Yakima in the past and clearly would like to be again. She plays a part in it when Yakima discovers an ancient mission hidden in the badlands that contains a treasure which may be cursed. There's also a potential robbery complicating things, as well as various shootouts and domestic problems.

Yakima Henry is a fine protagonist, and once again Brandvold's gritty, superlative action sequences dominate the book. There's just nobody better at it in the business today. Fast-paced and highly entertaining, WILDCAT OF THE SIERRA ESTRADA is another winner and gets a definite recommendation from me.