September 2023 MBR The Western Fiction Shelf

The Western Fiction Shelf

Comanche Territory
Cole Shelton
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850284, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 270pp

Synopsis: Chief Red Claw's Comanche renegades, supplied with Springfield rifles by a greedy gunrunning outfit, are terrorizing settlers, burning, looting and killing. In desperation, the army rehires former trail scout Clay Coleman, a man they once booted out.

On the trail, Clay rescues a mail order bride from a Comanche war party, then catches up with his old saddle partner Shoshone Sam. Together, the two scouts match their wits and guns against Comanche warriors and ruthless gunrunners.

With the odds stacked against them, can they bring peace to the frontier again? And can Clay survive to win the woman he loves?

Critique: An original, carefully crafted, and simply gripping story that will have a very special appeal to fans of non-stop action/adventure westerns, this large print paperback edition of "Comanche Territory" by Cole Shelton will prove to be a welcome pick for personal reading lists of dedicated fans and the Western Fiction collections of community libraries.

Editorial Note: Cole Shelton (Roger Norris-Green), has written 137 published westerns under 6 pen names plus 2 under his own name. Some of his westerns have received "Best Western of the Month" awards.

Backlash
Dale Graham
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850307, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 234pp

Synopsis: Fed up with driving an old mud wagon to deliver mail in Arizona, young Jeff Hayden is eager for change. But his boss reckons he doesn't have the experience to handle the more prestigious Concord stagecoaches. However, when a special delivery of gold to Gila Bend is lacking a suitable driver, Jeff's hero Trace Wildeblood suggests he is more than capable of handling a full team.

But when the stagecoach is held up and robbed by Squint Rizzo and his gang, Trace's sweetheart Sophie Dexter is killed. Blamed for neglecting to get the coach to safety, Jeff joins the posse to bring Squint to grime justice.

Critique: A fun, original, and thrilling read from start to finish, this large print paperback edition from Linford Western Library of "Backlash" by western novelist Dale Graham will have a very special appeal to dedicated fans of deftly crafted western novels and is an unhesitatingly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Dale Graham is a pen name for Graham Dugdale, who writes westerns and previously worked as a teacher in New Mexico. He also compiles crossword puzzles for a weekly country sports newspaper and has produced eleven highly successful walking guides all based in the north of England. He is also the author of "Death Rides Alone" and "Hell Bound for Spindriff".

One Grave Too Many
Matt Cole
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850208, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 294pp

Synopsis: Ross Chisenhall lies defenseless and defeated. Four riders have viciously killed his only son and left him for dead. In time he recuperates from his wounds, and is left with not only a scar on his face, but a darkness inside that cannot be quenched until his child's death is avenged. Under an assumed name he escapes to the town of Mesilla, where he soon discovers that he can be as cruel and brutal as the most savage gunman.

Critique: A simply riveting revenge themed action/adventure western, "One Grave Too Many" by Matt Cole is a compelling and compulsive page turner of a read from beginning to end. This large print paperback edition of "One Grave Too Many" is a highly recommended pick for personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Matt Cole (https://www.facebook.com/mattcoleauthor) is an author, comic book writer, children's book author, and writing teacher/ lecturer. He is the author of over thirty books, in numerous genres from nonfiction, children's, fantasy, detective, historical, crime, and Western.

Desperadoes On The Loose
E. Jefferson Clay
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850291, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 222pp

Synopsis: There was trouble in Fortitude Valley. Someone had set up a lumber camp smack in the middle of cattle country. And to make matters worse, the lumbermen drafted in to work the axes and saws, and float the timber down to the sawmill, were paroled convicts!

If they made a go of the chance they'd been given, they could win their freedom.

But the Cattlemen's Association had other ideas about that. So the Fortitude Valley Lumber Company hired Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict as security men to keep the peace -- but that was easier said than done!

Critique: Another deftly crafted and western action/adventure showcases the further adventures of former Confederate Sergeant Hank Brazos and former Union Captain Duke Benedict. As an author, E. Jefferson Clay is a master of the western genre and this large print paperback edition "Desperadoes on The Loose" from the Linford Western Library series is a fun and highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: E. Jefferson Clay (https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/e-jefferson-clay) is one of the many pseudonyms for legendary Australian author, comic book writer and illustrator, Paul Wheelahan.

Three Days Under the Sun
Charlie Steel
Condor Publishing
www.condorpublishinginc.com
9781931079020, $12.95

https://www.amazon.com/THREE-DAYS-UNDER-SUN-Other-ebook/dp/B0B9Y6KWM5

Three Days Under the Sun (And Other Tales of the Old West) joins other Western classics of storytelling lore by Charlie Steel with an intriguing blend of black and white illustrations and short fiction. These present diverse characters that experience trials and tribulations as they struggle for survival in the West. Besides employing the powerful "you are here" atmosphere that Steel successfully utilizes to best advantage, each story contains a moral and ethical message.

Readers of Westerns will find them thought-provokingly embedded into description, experience, and mindset. The title opening story "Three Days Under the Sun" demonstrates this flavor from the start as it captures the experience of an ambush that portends death with an astute observation from the first-person narrator, that "This was Sioux land, we were the invaders, and they were fighting for their survival." As the struggle to survive continues for a ragtag wagon train band led by the first-person narrator, readers interested in the thrill of action combined with the observation of greenhorns who are well out of their league in the Wild West makes for an engrossing story.

Romance is the last thing that should arise. But, it does. Steel excels in injecting the unexpected into traditional Western confrontations, scenarios, and experiences. This ability gives his short pieces an engrossing, memorable flavor of unpredictability that will especially delight seasoned Western genre readers looking for something different. Take "A Running Gunman Makes a Decision," for example. A thirsty outlaw running through the prairie comes upon a house that offers refuge and then danger, as illness has fallen upon its inhabitants. The gunman is on the lam. But is he running from life, as well? His decision leads to perils he'd never anticipated from his prior actions...and a moral dilemma: "I am a fool to think of staying. Best to get on the mustang and ride hard and fast away from this sickness. Surely, these folks are beyond hope and are all going to die."

Each story is steeped in the atmosphere and trappings of the West, but each offers a twist in perspective and judgment to keep readers thinking and surprised about decisions, outcomes, and this wild Western world. These elements make for stories that are hard-hitting, both in their action and in their outcomes. Readers of Western literature may be used to formula genre reads, but Charlie Steel steps out of the way of traditional approaches just a bit, giving each tale the added value of surprise with thought-provoking dilemmas. The result is a powerful collection highly recommended not just for the usual reader of the Western fiction genre, but for those who normally eschew these types of stories, who will find much to attract in this powerfully compelling gathering.

Three Days Under the Sun is also recommended for book clubs looking for literature that pushes the boundaries of their genres, especially groups that would contrast the traditional approaches of L'Amour and others with Steel's original, astute form of inspection.

Crippled Jack
Boston Teran
High-Top Publishing LLC
9781567031010, $22.00

https://www.amazon.com/Crippled-Jack-Boston-Teran/dp/1567031013

Readers of Western fiction well know the tendency towards formula writing that this genre holds. Perhaps more so than most genres, that tendency has created a set of expectations about not only what its fiction will hold, but the presentation and progression of its characters and Western settings. That's why Crippled Jack by Boston Teran is such a standout. It's revisionist writing at its best, turning the Western genre on end with a story that is delightfully unexpected and evocative. The satisfying blend of historical fact and revolutionary concepts come alive under Teran's hand.

The story opens with a young boy who has been tied up and abandoned on a trail, left behind with a cryptic note attached to him to await death or God's intervention: whichever comes first. Salvation arrives in the form of twenty-eight-year-old Ledru Drum, who is making his way south, following the Chihuahua Trail, when he stumbles upon the terrified, beat-up child who will change his life. The child grows up to be the marksman known as Crippled Jack, forging a name and reputation that belays his disabilities and places him in a powerful position. His coming-of-age and connections with equally forceful personalities who belay their sex and heritage to make names for themselves during changing times creates a Western of a very different ilk. The story follows its characters through social, political, and psychological lawlessness and into worlds where their inherent weaknesses prove to be uncommon strengths.

Author Boston Teran is skilled at presenting and contrasting the experiences of men and women alike, injecting the psychological self-inspections with social reflections that lend realistic drama and dilemmas to each character's world: "Nola stared out into the night to where the smelter furnaces looked like huge open mouths of fire, ready and willing to feed on you. She began to cry because she could not escape feelings that had power and authority over her. Her humanity was in a struggle with hard moments, and how this would play out she could barely imagine." As struggles, intrigue, and confrontations immerse Nola Dyle and Matthew Drum in situations which both set them apart and make them notoriously different figures in the West, readers will especially appreciate the attention Teran gives to evocative scenes built on mercurial relationships.

The result is a Western story that is actually a literary piece that employs all the trappings of the Western, but elevates the plot to a higher level entirely. This will appreciate appeal to literary readers looking for something different. Libraries looking for standout Western-centric novels, as well as book clubs reading Westerns who seek reads both satisfyingly complex and outstandingly unique, will both find Crippled Jack absorbing and refreshingly original writing.

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