THE CHEROKEE TRAIL - Book review

Louis L’Amour’s novel The Cherokee Trail was published in 1982.

Mary Breydon, widow of retired major Marshall is taking on her late husband’s job of running a stagecoach station. With her daughter Peg she fled her home Harlequin Oaks in the South when it was pillaged and razed by guerrillas. Her father had taught her to ride, to shoot and to stand firm – ‘... “the strongest,” her father said, “is he who stands alone!’ (p95). 

She meets a Union cavalry officer Barry Owen – (not Gary from the 7^th Cavalry music!) Indeed, she meets all sorts of folk on the stagecoaches passing through: ‘Actors, prospectors, gamblers, miners, hunters, newspapermen, homemakers, and shady ladies, whiskey peddlers and weapons-salesmen, Indian agents, drummers from all over the world (p193).

She’s stubborn and brave and peremptorily dismisses the slovenly detestable Scant Luther, making an enemy of the man; there’s another even more formidable, a ruthless war criminal who actually killed her husband! She has to face Indians and gunmen – yet nothing will deter her from making her station the best on the Cherokee Trail.

She is helped by the mysterious Temple Boone, cantankerous Ridge Fenton, the orphan Wat and the Irish lass, Matty – all characters who add to a very enjoyable story.

Interestingly, this adage ‘The secret of victory is to attack, always attack’ (p72) is used in his other books. And why not?

Editorial comment:

‘... the Williamses’ (p138)

And ne-er-do well ‘called Williams’ (p64). Of all the names in the world, why duplicate for two different people?

THE FERGUSON RIFLE - Book review

Louis L’Amour’s novel The Ferguson Rifle was published in 1973 and my paperback copy is the fourth reprint (1982). And I’ve just got round to reading it!

It’s early 1800s and is narrated in the first person by Ronan Chantry who is travelling west after the sad demise of his wife and son in a cabin fire. He travels with ‘a good horse, a small pack, an excellent knife, and my Ferguson rifle... my constant companion since my childhood, all that remains of my past, that and a few precious books to stimulate my thoughts...’ (p1). The breech-loading rifle was presented to him by a Major Ferguson in 1780 which he'd made himself.  He had no idea where he was headed. ‘As long as one travels toward a promised land, the dream is there, to stop means to face the reality, and it is easier to dream than to realise the dream’ (p15).

Ronan is well-travelled, a professor of law and literature; he’d ‘studied at the Sorbonne and at Heidelberg and had taught history at Cambridge and William and Mary’ (p22). But he accepted that he had plenty to learn in the Old West from frontiersmen he encountered. ‘The mind that is geared to learning, that is endlessly curious, cannot cease from contemplating and comparing’ (p37).

He soon comes to realise that though he was a civilised man he now existed in an uncivilised world.

He joins a group of friendly frontiersmen who appreciate his skill with the rifle, notably in hunting but also in despatching renegade Indians! On their travels they meet up with a strong-willed woman, Lucinda Falvey, who is searching for some 200-year-old lost treasure. ‘... with winter coming on, the aspen had already turned to gold. The earth where we were to sleep was inches deep with the golden leaves... treasure enough for me’ (p118).

Like all his books, L’Amour puts the reader in the scene. ‘... I could see the moon. The sky was impossibly clear, bathing the forest below in misty golden light. Not the mist of cloud or dampness, but of moonlight among the trees. Behind me bulked the vastness of the mountains, below the steep hillside, the shimmering pool of the aspen...’ (p120).

And Lucinda’s treacherous uncle Rafen is on her trail, determined to wrest the treasure from her grasp.

A short, fast-paced book filled with interesting characters, a smattering of history – even the Knights of Malta! – and the usual western lore so familiar to readers of the author.

Recommended.

RADIGAN - Book review

Louis L’Amour’s novel Radigan was first published in 1958.

Tom Radigan has worked on his land at Vache Creek in New Mexico for five years with the help of half-breed John Child. He’s taken aback when a Texan woman, Angelina Foley, comes into the nearby town claiming the land is hers, not Tom’s. She backs up the claim with a Spanish grant and about thirty men, mostly hardcase gunfighters, and several hundred of cattle.

Told in third person omniscient point-of-view, the story moves along fast with L’Amour’s inimitable wry viewpoint.

Radigan’s gaze was ‘disconcertingly direct in times of trouble, and men who faced him at such times found that gaze unnerving and upsetting to sudden action. At least such reports had come from three men... two others had been in no condition to volunteer any information’ (p5).

Radigan and Child are joined by the latter’s adopted daughter, eighteen-year-old Gretchen; he traded four horses for her from the Comanche Indians.

Convinced that the Foley claim is bogus, Radigan is determined to fight for what is rightfully his.

Like many L’Amour westerns, you cross a well-described land, knowing that the author has trod and ridden here and he is familiar with the whole terrain. And there's a map of the relevant area. The various characters are neatly drawn with a few brush-strokes. The descriptions are at many times visual, so that you’re there:

‘Raindrop felt his cheeks with blind, questing fingers... the black trunks of the trees were like iron bars against the grey of gathering pools’ (p12).

‘The stage rolled to a stop and the cloud of dust that had pursued it now caught up and drifted over it, settling on the horses and around them’ (p57).

‘Firelight flickered on the flanks of the horses and reflected from polished saddle leather’ (p82).

There is a fist-fight or two, a gunfight, all leavened with suspense and action, and not forgetting humour:

‘he was thinking, working around the herd of his thoughts trying to get a rope on the one he needed...’ (p120)

‘Loma Coyote was not much as towns went, and as towns went, Loma Coyote would someday go’ (p155).

‘My name is Will Haftowate. And that’s what you’ll have to do’ (p161).

A satisfying quick read.

Chap O'Keefe rides again!

Way back in 2014 I interviewed a stalwart of comic and genre fiction, Keith Chapman. He was an editor and contributor to various fiction publications in London in the 1960s before moving to New Zealand and spending nearly 35 years in newspaper and magazine journalism. He returned to fiction writing in earnest in 1992, using the pen-name Chap O'Keefe, writing westerns, and also edited the Black Horse Extra online magazine. Recently he has concentrated on bringing out his quite considerable back-list in e-book format, rather than producing new fiction.

Chap O'Keefe, his wife, adult children and grandchildren live in Auckland, New Zealand. The family home was high on a North Shore hillside overlooking Hellyer's Creek and the sparkling Waitemata Harbour, but 8 years ago for medical reasons they moved to a small unit in a retirement village.

Black Horse extra online magazine appeared quarterly for six years from March 2006. It promoted the western genre and the work of authors published by the (now defunct) Robert Hale company’s Black Horse Western hardback novels. You can still read each issue of this magazine here

Black Horse Extra (blackhorsewesterns.com)

Keith’s writing history is covered in two lengthy blog items, featuring among other legendary characters for magazines devoted to Sexton Blake, Edgar Wallace, and Leslie Charteris’s The Saint:

WRITEALOT: Blog Guest - Keith Chapman aka Chap O'Keefe (nik-writealot.blogspot.com) -

WRITEALOT: Blog Guest - Keith Chapman - part 2 (nik-writealot.blogspot.com)

Some of Keith’s re-issued westerns as e-books can be found on Amazon and other platforms:

Rebel and the Heiress

Frontier Brides

Blast to Oblivion

A Gunfight Too Many

Gunsmoke Night (his first book written as Chap O’Keefe)

This is my review of Blast to Oblivion

Inspired by Conan Doyle’s The Valley of Fear, this twenty-first Black Horse Western by Chap O’Keefe starts with a bang – a shotgun killing in Denver.

Ex Pinkerton Joshua Dillard was hired by the deceased’s sister, Flora, to investigate the murder. She suspected that her brother’s wife was concealing something – particularly as she had moved away with her male secretary Joseph Darcy to the mining town of Silverville. When Dillard arrives there, he meets up with an unusual character with the monicker of Poverty Joe, who happens to be instrumental in saving Dillard from some desperadoes. Dillard interviewed the ungrieving widow but couldn’t find any evidence to link her with her husband’s death. Besides the unwelcome attentions of the desperadoes led by Cord Skann, Dillard also has to contend with the duplicitous Marshal Broadstreet.

This is an enjoyable yarn and it’s clear that the author has written about Joshua Dillard a number of times (this is his seventh appearance, in fact); the character fits like a well-worn glove. Subtle evidence of research crops up from time to time, too. ‘An English lady traveller in the district had recorded that bad temper and profanity in the presence of women was widespread.’ I could be wrong, but this may be alluding to Fanny Trollope’s classic ‘Domestic Manners of the Americans’.

The action-packed story is laced with humour as well as gunplay. The twist at the end is neat and it’s satisfying for both the reader – and especially for Dillard – that Flora is a woman of her word.

***

‘Told in Pictures’ is an article written by Keith and featured in the prestigious Illustrators Quarterly (2013), lavishly illustrated with covers from Combat Picture Library, Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine and The Sexton Blake Library, among others.

LAST CHANCE SALOON - Press Release

 

[#2 in the Bethesda Falls series - all self-contained stories!]

The Bethesda Falls stage is robbed and Ruth Monroe, the stage depot owner, is being coerced into selling up by local tycoon, Zachary Smith. Meanwhile, Daniel McAlister returns from gold prospecting to wed Virginia, the saloon’s wheel of fortune operator. Daniel hits a winning streak but is bushwhacked, his winnings stolen.

And newcomer to town, Horace Q. Marcy, seems to be playing a game close to his chest, too.

Virginia sees this romance with Daniel as her last chance of happiness and no matter what, she’s determined to stand by her man, ducking flying bullets if need be. Daniel and Virginia side with Ruth against Smith and his hired gunslingers.

Only a deadly showdown will end it, one way or another.

Amazon UK https://tinyurl.com/3sthcy8n

Amazon US https://tinyurl.com/aytn3cmu

***

The downhill swaying motion of the Bethesda coach dislodged Alfred Boddam and he fell forward, half-into the front boot, his arm crooked over the side-lantern, hand dangling and bashing against the flapping leather curtain.

‘What on earth’s happening?’ A passenger boldly peeled back the curtain and stared at Alfred’s limp hand. ‘Oh, dear Lord! Mr Boddam’s dead!’ he shrieked. ‘Nobody’s driving our coach!’

***

When Daniel McAlister entered The Gem saloon, Virginia Simone’s heart lurched against the fitted boned bodice of her red satin dress and she almost made a hash of triggering the concealed device under the roulette wheel.

Pulling her eyes away from the entrance with an effort, she turned back to her table and flicked the hidden lever to ensure that the House won. The ball bounced a few times and a couple of gamblers let out exclamations of surprise. But for Virginia it was no surprise at all. Yep, the House won when it mattered, when the stakes were high. She hated this part of her job, suckering the poor dupes just to line the pockets of owners Royce O’Keefe and Zachary Smith. Still your foolish pride, she told herself; it’s a job, and she was one of the best in the whole damned Dakota Territory.

***

Wading through the stream, Wolf Slayer came after him.

Daniel got to one knee, withdrew his knife and splashed water at the oncoming Indian’s face. As the Sioux warrior was deflected for a moment, Daniel sprang.

He grasped hold of the wrist of the Indian’s knife-hand and twisted harshly but the blade didn’t drop. Wolf Slayer grabbed Daniel’s wrist and simultaneously brought up a knee, thrusting it into Daniel’s belly. Daniel gasped, falling backwards, yet he managed to hold onto the Indian’s wrist and Wolf Slayer fell on top of him. The man’s breath was foul, but he imagined his own wasn’t much better.

The underwater rocks were smooth but unforgiving hard against his back. Spluttering, stream-water lapping round his face, Daniel felt his strength ebbing as Wolf Slayer thrust a knee on his chest, pressing down hard. It wouldn’t take long before his rib-cage broke under the pressure. Wolf Slayer’s free hand was clamped around Daniel’s throat, trying to force his head under water.

Review:  “This is one good read... not a typical western – it has character, humour and storylines with enough questions in the plot to maintain interest from beginning to end. Strongly recommended.”

Previously published by Robert Hale 2008 - now re-published as a paperback!

MOUNTAIN KILLER - Book review

 Mountain Killer is the first in a series concerning the Tales of Tom Mix by Scott McCrea (2022).

This adventure takes place in 1911 when Mix was thirty-one and a marshal of Dewey. By this time he had already starred in films and was well known. ‘Sheriff Kohl liked the showman-Marshal well enough, but suspected there was more show than sand in Tom Mix’ (p1).

On his way to give a talk to some Texas Rangers, Tom’s passing through the small city of La Mort Sanglante in the Oklahoma mountains. The place twenty-five years back had been a tent city but now was quite prosperous, virtually owned in its entirety by Mr Pierre Cavanagh. The previous night Mrs Evelyn Cavanagh was savaged by a bear, probably the notorious Big Claw, in her mansion’s library. Sheriff Kohl invites Mix to help out in an unofficial capacity.

The blurb tells us so it isn’t giving anything away to reveal that Mix suspects that the woman’s death was not caused by a bear but by a man.

How he arrives at this conclusion and his relationship with the various townsfolk keep the reader guessing. What seems likely is that some incidents over two decades ago are now casting fatal shadows over the township. The threat is decidedly real: while escorting Cavanagh’s pretty daughter Hillary they are shot at – whether that’s by a disgruntled film critic, an old enemy from Mix’s past, or a particularly talented bear remains to be seen.

It is clear that Mix has an eye for the ladies – not least the plucky Hillary – which is not surprising, perhaps, since he was married five times. During these events he was married to his third wife, Olive and nothing improper occurred.

Indeed, there are enough fascinating and amusing characters to enliven the story, not least the alcoholic Doc Gamble, the reclusive governor Suchet and his giant of an Indian butler-cum-bodyguard, Morgan.

There are also some amusing asides and observations to balance the grim killings in this engaging tale.

McCrea has created a likeable hero who clearly has the potential for many adventures: this one is followed by Savage Mesa, Cowboy Justice, Deuces Wild and Hogg Wild in that order.

Cash Laramie and the Sundown Express - Book review

 

This is a first: a Cash Laramie novel written by a collaboration of two authors – in this case, Edward A Grainger (the character’s originator) and Scott D Parker. Previous novels in the series have been penned separately by Grainger or another author. One reason for this combination is that the adventure also features Calvin Carter, ex-actor and detective, created by Parker.

It begins with a mystery: a train is approaching the rail station from the wrong direction. There’s a special delivery thrown onto the platform – a dead body with a message attached. The new train, the Sundown Express, the fastest in the West, has been hijacked by a group of desperadoes. And they want a ransom paid by sunset or they’ll start killing passengers every hour!

To compound matters, the senator’s daughter is one of the passengers, as well as the famous Lillie Langtry. Railroad detective Carter is on board also, but he’s clearly out-gunned.

Chief Penn sends Marshals Laramie and Miles on Mission Impossible – board the speeding train and take down the criminals without any innocent lives being lost. They’re helped by an army colonel and an eccentric professor and a revolutionary invention. Welcome to steampunk Wild West!

The scene is set for a fast-paced no-holds barred adventure, pitting the guile, wits and bravery of our three heroes against the considerable fire-power of at least ten cold-hearted gunmen. And all the while the deadline approaches.

There are some cunning twists in the story and a fair number of darkly humorous one-liners, too. The authors manage to visualise all the main players succinctly, conveying realistic interaction between them, while keeping the narrative heading on track towards the explosive denouement.

A fast, satisfying read. It’s a while since we’ve seen Cash Laramie; it’s Great to be able to welcome him back.

STAGECOACH - The BFI Classics book

 

This 95-page appraisal of the classic 1939 John Wayne/John Ford film (published in 1992) is written by Edward Buscombe, who is also the editor of The BFI Companion to the Western.

Seven of producer Walter Wanger’s pictures for United Artists hadn’t made a profit. So Wanger was told to rein back his budgets. Ford’s project to film ‘Stage to Lordsburg’ appealed: ‘a talented, tested and prestigious director, relatively unknown and therefore inexpensive stars and a type of story which, even if Westerns were not fashionable, was nevertheless of proven appeal.’ (p17).

The filming lasted about two months. But due to Wanger’s financial situation, UA wouldn’t agree to filming in colour, which was a great shame, considering the spectacular vistas presented by Monument Valley. At that time colour added about 30% to production costs. The film came in under budget, costing about $531,000. The salaries of some of the picture’s stars were Claire Trevor, $15,000; Andy Devine, $10,000; Thomas Mitchell, $12,000 (and he won an Oscar for the part too!); John Wayne, $3,700, considerably less than four other travellers in the stagecoach! (p18)

Essentially there are two narrative strands to the plot: first, a journey through dangerous terrain, echoing The Odyssey; second, revenge, which is as ancient as the Greek myth. The latter is ‘driven by the hero’s sense of personal honour, an inner compulsion rather than an external threat.’ (p25) And the theme emphasises that good prevails over evil.

One of the reasons for the film being a classic is the canny juxtaposition of the nine travellers in the stagecoach, and how they rub against each other, revealing their characters. The driver Buck, the whiskey drummer, Peacock, meek in character and temperament (played by Donald Meek), the Southern gambler Hatfield who is not quite the gentleman he likes to think he is, the disdainful and felonious banker Gatewood who is anxious to abscond, the wan wilting flower of womanhood, Lucy, keen to join her cavalry officer husband, well-oiled Doc Boone, evicted from the town for drunkenness and not paying his rent, escaped jailbird Ringo Kid, joining the coach a short way outside town, shotgun rider Sheriff Wilcox (who promptly arrests Ringo), and Dallas (who ‘is never actually named as a prostitute, but only the young and innocent Ringo does not instantly recognise her profession’[p37]).  

Between the lines, Ford reveals that ‘respectability and morality are very far from being the same thing.’ (p37)

Needless to say, screenwriter Dudley Nichols had to considerably enlarge upon the original short story. Lucy, the army wife, is not pregnant in the story; Nichols’s injection of her gravid state and the subsequent birth seem ‘expressly designed to give the film appeal to a more mixed audience.’ (p54)

Due recognition is also given to stuntman Yakima Canutt: ‘his contribution to the film was considerable,’ with examples. (p67)

Interestingly, Orson Welles confessed he learned to be a director by watching John Ford’s films: ‘John Ford was my teacher. My own style has nothing to do with his, but Stagecoach was my movie text-book. I ran it over forty times.’ (p58)

The book concludes with details about the press releases, the film’s overwhelmingly positive reception, and John Ford’s subsequent career and status. Throughout, the pages are interspersed with black-and-white stills.

An excellent insight into a piece of cinematic history.

There are many other BFI Classic books available; check them out on Amazon – search for ‘BFI Classics’

 

* BFI = British Film Institute

Charlie Whipple - R.I.P.

I was greatly saddened to learn that Charlie died last week from pancreatic cancer. We'd been distant writing friends for about a decade - distant in the sense that he lived in Japan and I live in Spain. He was a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction and with wide interests and he touched many lives. We co-edited a western anthology, A Fistful of Legends (2009). He wrote his excellent westerns under the pen-name Chuck Tyrell; his Japansese historical adventure stories with the overarching title The Masacado Scrolls are written as Charles T. Whipple.

A good and sincere friend with a sense of humour.

Fellow author Tom Rozzo has posted a tribute to Charlie here:

Those who knew Charlie are diminished by his passing.

Condolences to his family.

R.I.P, Charlie.

Book review - The Untamed West

This tome The Untamed West (2018), edited by L.J. Washburn, comprises 29 all new stories in the classic western tradition; it clocks up 564 pages and is a hefty weight, in excess of 150,000 words. The contributors belong to a worldwide group of writers called the Western Fictioneers.

The tales that bookend the volume, ‘Byrd’s Luck’ and ‘Ravens in the Graveyard’ concern simple but honest men who hit face hard situations; the writers Jeffrey J. Mariotte and S.L. Matthews respectively create likeable believable characters with poignancy and depth. The former also has plenty of humour. Indeed, there are a number of humorous tales in the collection: ‘The Pig War’ by Gordon L. Rottman and ‘The Professor Goes West’ by Charlie Steel. I’d certainly like to read more about the professor from the East as he fits into the Old West. L.J. Washburn’s ‘The Battle of Edendale’ relates the days of early cinematography featuring one of her recurring characters, Lucas Hallam. Again, I’d like to read more about this guy!

The fair sex is ably represented with two female sheriffs (‘New Beginnings’ by Jesse J. Elliot and ‘Gunmen can’t Hide’ by S.D. Parker), an oppressed  stagecoach station mistress (‘A Sweet-talking Man’ by Easy Jackson,),  an orphaned woman and her brother under threat (‘The Gamble’ by Cheryl Pierson), a female stagecoach driver (‘Gun-Brand of the Stagecoach Queen’ by James Reasoner, and an abandoned wife (‘The Homestead’ by Angela Raines).

There are a couple of excellent cavalry tales, too: ‘Savage Law’ by Clay More and ‘A Deadly Decision at Adobe Wells’ by Big Jim Williams.

The above gives a flavour. There are others too, all of them evoking certain aspects of the Old West, every one of them worth reading for their emotional and historical content.

Treat yourself to a few hours of exciting, pleasurable reading!

[Declared interest: my story 'Preacher' is also included...]