January 2023 MBR The Western Fiction Shelf

The Western Fiction Shelf

Money Train
Michael Stewart
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444848700, $23.00, PB, Large Print, 228pp

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/money-train-michael-stewart/1130032702?ean=9781444848 700

Synopsis: Danny Spence plans to stay only one night in Gila Creek. But he's mistaken for a snake named Zeke Tolan, and from then on it's just one damn thing after another. He falls foul of the evil Ma Cole, then gets on the wrong side of Hernando Ortiz and his sadistic bodyguard Bracho. Somehow, this is all wrapped up with a train full of money that's rolling south of the border - right into the middle of the Mexican revolution.

Critique: A classic guns blazing western adventure of the first order, this large print paperback edition from the Linford Western Library collection, "Money Train" by author Michael Stewart, is a riveting read from beginning to end and certain to be a popular addition to the personal reading lists of dedicated western fans and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 - September 20, 1987) was a writer, actor, artist, and filmmaker. Several of his plays have been professionally staged, including his adaptation of Dracula, at the Leicester Square Theatre, London.

Wanted Dead Or Alive
Ralph Hayes
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444848878, $23.00, PB, Large Print, 246pp

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wanted-ralph-hayes/1130032682?ean=9781444848878

Synopsis: A year after being saved from a kidnapping, Dulcie Provost is waiting for the return of her rescuer, bounty hunter Certainty Sumner. But first Sumner has to carry out one more mission - tracking down sadistic outlaw the Lakota Kid. Unbeknownst to Sumner, he himself is also the quarry of an equally ruthless bounty hunter, Luther Bastian. The father of a gang member Sumner killed while rescuing Provost wants vengeance and has duped Bastian into believing that Sumner has turned outlaw. Can Sumner survive being hunted down by a bounty hunter as skilled and determined as himself?

Critique: With many a riveting plot twist and turn, "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Ralph Hayes is an extraordinary and entertaining read that will have special appeal for the dedicated western action/adventure buff. This large print paperback edition from the Linford Western Library collections is an especially recommended addition to community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Ralph Hayes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Hayes_(author)) began authoring stories and full-length novels in 1969. His earliest published work was a short story titled "The Gumdrop Affair", which was featured in a 1967 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. He is the author of eight Black Horse Westerns.

Red Diamond Rustlers
Will DuRey
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444848724, $23.00, PB, Large Print, 288pp

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-diamond-rustlers-will-durey/1130032651?ean=9781444 848724

Synopsis: Law was a rare commodity on the vast cattle ranges and a man had to fight if he meant to hold on to what he owned. A rancher dispensed his owned justice when he caught those who stole his livestock, but Titus Sawyer lost more than cattle when rustlers raided his Red Diamond spread. Men were killed, too, slaughtered in a dreadful ambush, so, when he summoned his nephew Frank to track down the killers his desire to punish the culprits was deeper than justice; it was revenge.

Critique: With all the compelling drama of a true western vengeance quest, "Red Diamond Rustlers" by Will DuRey (who is a stickler for accuracy of detail in its historical western context) is a terrific and compulsive page-turner of a read from cover to cover. This large print paperback edition of "Red Diamond Ruslters" from the Linford Western Library collections will be a prized addition to community library Western Fiction collections -- and a 'must' for all dedicated western novel fans.

Editorial Note: Will DuRey (https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/will-durey) is a life-long student of the history and legends of the Old West. He has been writing western fiction for more than a decade

Bad Blood At Harlow's Bend
Scott Connor
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444848472, $23.00, PB, Large Print, 210pp

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bad-blood-at-harlows-bend-scott-connor/1130032663?ean= 9781444848472

Synopsis: When Lorimer Hall returns to the town of Clear Creek after ten years away everything has changed. His father is dead, his friend Budd Ewing has been killed and nobody wants to know him. He decides to move on, but with it looking as if Budd's killer, Glenn Harlow, might get lynched, he is persuaded to accept the task of escorting him to jail. On the journey Glenn claims he's an innocent man, but Lorimer makes a mistake that leads to his prisoner being taken from him and lynched. Lorimer resolves to find out who really killed Budd, but as uncovering the facts could mean he allowed an innocent man to die, will the truth be enough to redeem him?

Critique: Deftly combining the best elements of a 'whodunnit' mystery with an action/adventure western, this large print paperback edition of "Bad Blood at Harlow's Bend" by veteran western author Scott Connor from the Linford Western Library collections is a fun and fascinating read from first page to last -- and certain to be a popular addition to both personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Ian Parnham is the author of 37 western novels published as I. J. Parnham, Scott Connor, and Ed Law.

In Defense of Delia
Pat Stoltey
Five Star Publishing
c/o Gale Cengage Learning, Inc.
20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
https://www.gale.com/five-star
9781432894719, $25.95, HC, 269pp

https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Delia-Sangamon-Novel/dp/1432894714

Synopsis: 1838: Four years after the events in Wishing Caswell Dead. Delia Pritchard gets a chilly reception when she returns to Sangamon, Illinois after a thirteen-year absence. She's riding a Palouse stallion, is dressed like a man, has a bullet in her shoulder, and leads a horse with a seven-year-old black boy astride.

Some think Delia left at the age of sixteen because she killed her parents and set fire to their cabin with the bodies inside. It is also rumored that Delia runs with outlaws and that she shot a lawman.

When Doc Hemmer insists Delia and the boy remain in Sangamon while she recuperates from surgery, he doesn't realize a vicious gang known as the Biedler Brothers is on her trail. Preacher John Claymore, also unaware of the danger, wants to meet Doc's patient with the beautiful eyes.

Farmer Annie Gray kills one of the Biedlers and triggers a violent response from the gang. Delia knows the brothers will be relentless. She brought this disaster down on the town and its residents. Can she save them all?

Critique: As a novelist, Pat Stoltey is a master of the mystery thriller genre, but with the publication of "In Defense of Delia" she proves an equal mastery of the western action/adventure genre as well. Memorable characters, a riveting plot, everything a dedicated western fan wants, "In Defense of Delia" is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Pat Stoltey (https://patriciastolteybooks.com) is the author of two Sylvia and Willie amateur sleuth mysteries, The Prairie Grass Murders and The Desert Hedge Murders; a thriller titled Dead Wrong; and the first Sangamon novel of frontier fiction, Wishing Caswell Dead. Dead Wrong and Wishing Caswell Dead were finalists for the Colorado Book Award.

Trini! Come!
W. Michael Farmer
Five Star Publishing
c/o Gale Cengage Learning, Inc.
20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
https://www.gale.com/five-star
9781432895785, $25.95, HC, 343pp

https://www.amazon.com/Trini-Come-Geronimos-Captivity-Trinidad/dp/1432895788

Synopsis: Although a work of fiction, "Trini! Come!: Geronimo's Captivity of Trinidad Verdin" is based on an historical event. Trinidad Verd in's story reveals the courage, suffering, and lessons a twelve-year-old girl learns about Apaches and herself during her captivity with the Naiche-Geronimo band hiding, fighting, and raiding in northern Sonora.

After breaking their surrender agreement with General George Crook in late March 1886, forty Apaches (eighteen men, fourteen women, and six children) led by Geronimo established a camp at the top of the Azul Mountains in western Sonora and began raiding north. They crossed the United States border with Mexico east of Nogales, Arizona, stole horses from the village of Calabasas.

On the morning of April 27, 1886, they attacked the Artisan and Petra Peck Ranch about eight miles northwest of Nogales. They killed pregnant Petra and her two-year-old son, Andy, and were about to kill her niece, Trinidad, when Geronimo decided to spare the child and took her captive. Later that day Geronimo also let Artisan Peck live after he was taken while branding cattle.

The Apaches carry Trinidad east deep into the Pinito Mountains where she witnesses an ambush of black soldiers before Geronimo leads the band back west to the Cibuta Mountains where they are attacked by Mexican militiamen who are mostly Tohono O'odham Indians. The Tohono O'odham militia suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Apaches who show them Trinidad, challenging them to come take her. Instead the militia run away.

The Apaches return east and establish a camp on the R io Santa Cruz and in the Coc ospera Mountains while they raid for livestock and fight US Cavalry. Trinidad becomes friends with a boy, Garditha, near her age who teaches her to use a sling. She helps him learn Spanish; he helps her learn Apache. While practicing with their slings they are attacked by three vaqueros who want the boy's scalp for Apache scalp reward money, but Trini and Garditha drive the attackers off. Geronimo later leads the vaqueros into a trap using Trini for bait.

With the US Cavalry hot on their trail, the Apaches split into three bands, the smallest being Geronimo's, which includes Trini, and they plan to reunite about a hundred miles southeast in the mountains at the confluence of the Yaqui and Aros Rivers. While going up the R io Dolores, Geronimo's band is attacked by Mexican militia. Geronimo tries to escape with Trinidad behind him but his horse stumbles and they are both thrown off. Trinidad uses the fall as an opportunity to escape to the Mexican militia led by Don Patricio Valenzuela.

After giving her story to the US Cavalry led by Captain Lawton and Mexican authorities, her Uncle Artisan returns her back to Nogales.

Critique: A simply fascinating story by historical novelist W. Michael Farmer, "Trini! Come!: Geronimo's Captivity of Trinidad Verdin" is a particularly recommended and unique addition to the personal reading lists of dedicated western action/adventure fans and certain to be an enduringly popular pick for community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: W. Michael Farmer (https://wmichaelfarmer.com) is the author of Hombrecito's War, which won a Western Writers of America Silver Spur Award for Best First Novel in 2006 and was a New Mexico Book Award Finalist for Historical Fiction in 2007. The sequel, Hombrecito's Search, was released in July 2007, and is based on the remarkable fact that Sierra Madre Apaches still raided across the United States border as late as 1930. He is also the author of Conspiracy: The Trial of Oliver Lee and James Gililland, Tiger Tiger Burning Bright: The Betrayals of Pancho Villa, as well as short stories for two anthologies, and won awards for essays at the Christopher Newport University Writers' Conference, and published an essay on Pat Garrett in Roundup magazine.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review