Black Horse Westerns - April 2011

Ghost Riders at Shotgun Bluffs - Robert Anderson

Young Zak Carter was no more than a boy when the Ghost Riders arrived on the bluffs and hustled him out at gunpoint. Back then, he watched them shoot down his parents, but now he has returned for his inheritance - and he's not planning on running from anyone. Zak starts romancing the lovely Sarah Jo, who has also caught the eye of the renegade gang's sadistic leader. When she is kidnapped, Zak straps on his gun and sets out to find her without a moment's hesitation. Now the scene is set for battle. The outlaws' grip on the town must be broken - or Zac Carter must die in the attempt.


Dakota Rage - Jake Douglas

Chance Lawton lived with his best friend, Ishna-Kobay, amongst a Nakota Sioux tribe in the Black Hills of Dakota. They hunted and broke mustangs - until a fake army patrol ambushed them, stole their belongings and killed Ishna-Kobay. Lawton usually liked to steer clear of trouble, but avenging his friend's murder was no trouble: the way he saw it, it was his bounden duty. And if duty meant facing 'Captain' Brodie Hall's guns, then so be it.


Soft Soap for a Hard Case - Billy Hall

Sam Heller had been hit. It wasn't all that serious but blood persisted in running down his arm. That blood made his hand slick. He needed to get it bound up and get rid of the blood quickly, before he could draw his gun. Then, abruptly, it was too late. Lance Russell and his trusty sidekick stepped out from behind a shed. Beside Sam was a homesteader he didn't really know. It was two against two, but Sam knew he didn't have a chance. Even with a dry hand and a good grip, he would be hard pressed to out-draw both of them.

Back at the DK Bar ranch, Kate Bond waited, hoping against hope for the return of the man she had come to love. Sam knew he had no chance of surviving, but he was determined to go down fighting. Then Russell and his hired gunmen went for their guns.


Comanchero Kingdom - Matt James

Kill him! The fierce command ripped the desert night apart. For young Danny Ketchell, it was the most desperate moment of his life. As he raked his horse with spurs to crash his way headlong into the encircling Comancheros, his six gun roared and enemy rifles snarled back. Before there could be peace, first there must be blood.


Paytime for a Good Man - Joseph John McGraw

Todd Coulter was a good man, a family man, wanting nothing more than to make an honest living by honest toil. He abided by the laws of God and men but somebody or something up there just didn't like him - In the end, he lost his family, his home and everything he'd worked for. But then Hollis Clarke turned up from his past and showed him the error of his law-abiding ways. Hollis offers Todd a surefire way of making money. It's not honest or legal but Todd no longer cares. He knows that a man with money can stand on his own two feet. He can do what he wanted and go wherever he pleases. He can be free - But both men knew that the day of reckoning always comes - and when it does, it's paytime.


The Secret of Devil's Canyon - I.J. Parnham

When Mayor Maxwell and his daughter are brutally murdered, feelings in Bear Creek run high. Even when the killer is caught and sentenced to life in prison, the townsfolk demand a lynching. So Sheriff Bryce calls in Nathaniel McBain to spirit the killer away through Devil's Canyon to Beaver Ridge jail. At first, Nathaniel manages to stay one step ahead of the pursuing mob; but as he loses ground, he realises he faces an even bigger problem: his prisoner may be innocent after all - A dark secret about what really happened is buried in Devil's Canyon. Will Nathaniel be able to uncover the truth before the mob reaches him?


Violent Men - Corba Sunman

Hilt was furious when a nasty leg wound prevented him from resuming his hunt for the outlaw Buck Dunne. Now that his pursuit for the killer had been interrupted, Dunne was likely to be long gone before Hilt could get his hands on him. Hilt had thought that all the trouble in the county was over but, unbeknownst to him, there were more rotten apples in the barrel and big trouble was still on the horizon. A gun-crackling showdown with Buck Dunne would surely be on the cards again soon.


Cannon for Hire - Doug Thorne

It is the autumn of 1897, and men are flocking to the wild and woolly Yukon Territory in search of gold. But soldier-for-hire Tom Cannon has a different reason for making the hazardous trek north. The one-time cavalry officer has been hired to find Emmet Lawrence, a greenhorn who had gone to seek his fortune and then disappeared. Time and again, as Cannon searches the icy wastes and snow-capped mountains, he draws a blank. No-one remembers Lawrence or knows where to find him. Then, something happens that Cannon hasn't allowed for. Emmet Lawrence comes looking for him...

Review of The Secret of Devil's Canyon by I. J. Parnham

I love the cover to this book as it reminds me of the old pulps and Jeff Arnold and The Riders Of The Range Annuals. The Secret Of Devil's Canyon has Nathaniel McBain and Shackleton Frost escorting convicted killer Cooper Metcalf to the Bear Creek pen. Of course, the prisoner protests that he is innocent - and maybe he is but Mayor Maxwell is dead and his daughter, Narcissa, is missing believed killed...

Read more at Broken Trails.

Also at Western Fiction Review:

I.J. Parnham presents the reader with a book that starts off like a straight-forward storyline but with the introduction of more and more characters, such as the bone-hunter Jim Dragon and his enemy Pierre Dulaine, and Emily Chambers who is searching for her missing father, all of whom seem to be involved in different threads to the story, it isn’t long before the plot throws up twist after twist that makes this book impossible to put down until the reader discovers how everything is resolved.

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Review of Dakota Rage by Jake Douglas

This book is filled with fast moving action from almost the first word. Lawton’s desire for revenge seemingly the only storyline, and that would be enough for most authors. But Jake Douglas further complicates matters with the discovery of hidden gold nuggets that Lawton cleverly uses to draw his enemy to where he wants him...

Read More at Western Fiction Review.

Bestsellers on Amazon - 25 April

1. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011)
Buy: £7.99

2. Six Days to Sundown by Owen G. Irons (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2008)
From £0.01

3. Dark Angel Riding by Owen G Irons (Hardcover - 28 Sep 2007)
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4. Savidge by Sean Kennedy (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2010)
From £11.93

5. Mistaken in Claymore Ridge by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 31 Jan 2008)
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6. Satan's Gun by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 30 Mar 2007)
From £0.01

7. Last Reckoning for the Presidio Kid by Emmett Stone (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2011)
From £11.69

8. Revenge by Fire by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £1.83

9. Iron Eyes Makes War by Rory Black (Hardcover - 30 Oct 2009)
From £1.83

10. Scar County Showdown by Elliot Long (Hardcover - 28 Feb 2011)
From £11.93

Linford Westerns - April 2011

Unsigned Avenger by John Davage

ISBN: 9781444806243
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 264 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

When Will Cord is shot dead for the brutal killing of Ali Toombs, Joe Hayes and his two sons know the real killer is still at large... Could it be Cole Sanderson - a newcomer to Consolation? Saloon girl Maggie Brown knows he's not who he says he is. Or could it be Lew Rosen, editor of the GAZETTE, who suspects the Hayes brothers? Fear and suspicion spread like a prairie fire - is anyone safe from accusation and violence?


Viva Gringo! by Steve Hayes

ISBN: 9781444806250
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 328 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

U.S. Marshal Ezra Macahan picks the wrong time to visit his cavalry soldier brother, Joshua, at Camp Furlong, New Mexico. That night Pancho Villa and his revolutionary forces raid the town of Columbus and though defeated, one of Villa's commanders, 'Scar' Acosta, kidnaps Joshua's son, Daniel - and flees to a heavily guarded mountain hideout. But, as Ezra and Joshua pursue Daniel's captor, can they ever rescue him when they face terrible adversities, a shocking revelation and violent death?


Death Range by Elliot Long

ISBN: 9781444806267
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 232 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

Bullet-scarred Jack Cain, through with cleaning up gun-crazy ranges and wild cow towns, heads for Montana to buy a small spread and raise cows. But a hundred miles up country, he encounters nine-year-old Ethan Wilder whose ma is shot and near to dying. Will he come and take a look? Reluctantly he agrees, only to find himself ambushed in a hail of bullets - but what follows next turns out to be Jack Cain's greatest test - but can he survive it?


Faith And A Fast Gun by Chap O'Keefe

ISBN: 9781444806274
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 240 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

Joshua Dillard, the ex-Pinkerton detective, on a sentimental journey to a mission graveyard in Texas, had ridden into trouble. Guns blazed around the headstones as he intervened to save a girl called Faith from the clutches of Lyte Grumman and his gunhawks. Grumman, a cattle baron, believed that a rigged poker game had lost him a thousand head of longhorns. Now he was intent on recouping his loss, whatever it took - and Joshua's Colt Peacemaker was hopelessly outnumbered...


Wild Meddow by Caleb Rand

ISBN: 9781444806281
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 240 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

With a small herd of cattle and a big pack of trouble, Burt Lane rides into Northern Wyoming. Near the town of Clayburn, Wild Meddow is a neglected cattle ranch with no apparent owner, but Cole Dodgson and Vaughn Maber covet its water and fertile soil. Burt is forced to declare his real identity when Dodgson and Maber decide to overrun the ranch. Then a friend is taken hostage - and for Burt the time for long-awaited retribution has arrived.


Guns Of Ponderosa by Chuck Tyrell

ISBN: 9781444806298
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 240 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

When Nate Cahill and his gang take over the town of Ponderosa, sawmill magnate Fletcher Comstock sends for his friend Matt Stryker. However, Cahill is waiting for him. He gelds Stryker's fine Arabian stallion and beats him terribly. But Stryker will not give up. He pins on the marshal's badge, tames a rowdy town and gets rid of the ruthless Cahill gang. Now the guns of Ponderosa blaze and blood runs red in the Arizona high country.

Review of Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty

TRAIL OF THE BURNED MAN is definitely a New Pulp western written with the distinct flavor of the classics as well as liberally laced with the bravado and rapidity of a modern tale. The characters are full and rich, complete portraits on a canvas of hard living, hair trigger decisions, and six gun action and adventure!

Read more at All Pulp.

An interview with Chuck Tyrell

Charles T. Whipple’s Westerns are written with an old man’s wisdom filtered through a child’s wide-eyed sense of wonder. His stories ripple with the feel of folk tales and local legend, without losing the immediacy and realism of someone who’s been there. Whipple grew up in the American West, in a time when the pioneers had aged but were still living—at a time when a child dreamed as much of the 19th century as 20th.

Read part #1 and part #2 at Booklifenow.

Review of Paytime for a Good Man by Joseph John McGraw

This book offers a fast moving story filled with action that had me wondering as to its outcome, for this book has quite a dark theme running throughout that I found fascinating to see unfold. Joseph John McGraw has written a wonderful study of character that illustrates how a person can change when everything he lives for is cruelly snatched away...

Read More at : Western Fiction Review.

Review of Faith and a Fast Gun by Chap O'Keefe

FAITH AND A FAST GUN is another adventure of hard-luck range detective Joshua Dillard, who’s in Del Rio to visit the grave of his late wife when he finds himself drawn into a clash between the daughter of a murdered rancher and the cattle baron responsible for the man’s death...

Read more at James Reasoner.

Bestsellers at The Book Depository - 18 April

1. Hell Fire in Paradise by Chuck Tyrell (Nov 2010)

2. Guns of Ponderosa by Chuck Tyrell (Feb 2010)

3. The Tarnished Star by Jack Martin (Jun 2009)

4. Gideon's Guns by Jake Douglas (Jun 2010)

5. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (Mar 2010)

6. Loner with a Gun by Ryan Bodie (Jul 2010)

7. Robbery in Savage Pass by D.M. Harrison (Sep 2009)

8. Desperate Men by Corba Sunman (Nov 2008)

9. All guns Blazing by Doug Thorne (Nov 2008)

10. Packing Iron by Steve Hayes (Aug 2009)

Black Horse artist turns writer

Illustrator and artist Tony Masero's first Black Horse Western Jake Rains will be published later this year. You can visit his site here and also read an interview here in which he talks about his long career in westerns (it's guaranteed you'll have a few of his in your collection!).

Dales Westerns - April 2011

Panhandle Showdown by Link Hullar

ISBN: 9781842627730
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 224 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 11.99

Crime had the Texas Panhandle in a tight, bloody grip when the big stranger rode into the small town of Spit Junction. By the next morning Kid Buttercup was in jail for his part in a wild saloon brawl and the local bank had been robbed. Who had killed the bank's president and left him locked in the empty vault? There were suspects a-plenty, but very little evidence. This was the puzzle to be solved by the drifting stranger turned reluctant deputy, Kid Buttercup. Tensions mounted in Spit Junction until they finally exploded in a violent Panhandle showdown.



The Sheriff And The Widow by Chap O'Keefe

ISBN: 9781842627914
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 240 Pages
Published - 01-04-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 11.99

As dangerous as unstable dynamite - that was Sheriff Ross Kemp's assessment of Jessica Blackwood. She was darkly beautiful, and she was married to the richest rancher around. Mysterious notes, a bizarre accusation, and the bushwhack murder of her mad and jealous husband shoved Kemp into the biggest trouble of his life. Tried and convicted on a trumped-up charge, Kemp was sentenced to ten years in the state pen. His only hope was Jessica's lovely stepdaughter Ellen, but as Ellen began to uncover the truth she fell into deadly danger from blackmailer Orson Rymer and evil-minded gunslick Snake McClay.

Ross Morton's new novel

Just sold my fifth Black Horse Western to Robert Hale, Old Guns. A tale with a difference, as it moves from 1892 to 1859 to 1866 as the past catches up with a number of ageing ex-lawmen...

Read More at Writealot.

Review of Cannon for Hire by Doug Thorne

It is the autumn of 1897, and men are flocking to the wild and woolly Yukon Territory in search of gold. But soldier-for-hire Tom Cannon has a different reason for making the hazardous trek north. The one-time cavalry officer has been hired to find Emmet Lawrence, a greenhorn who had gone to seek his fortune and then disappeared...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Make it move the story: Howard Hopkins on Writing the West #2

Plot has always been the burr in my saddle. Has never come easy. I’ve read entire books on it and still there are days when plotting I’d rather sit on a hot poker.

Read more at Book Life.

Limitless Vista of Character & Story: Howard Hopkins on Writing the West #1

Each new novel by Howard Hopkins reminds me that the possibilities are endless, that anything goes — within the publisher’s guidelines, of course. Hopkins writes horror novels and Westerns, such as The Dark Riders and Pistolero, under his own name and Westerns as Lance Howard. His recent Lance Howard Westerns include Dead Man Riding, The Killing Kind, and the forthcoming Hell on Hoofs for Hale’s Black Horse Westerns line.

Read more at: Booklifenow.

Bestsellers on Amazon - 11 April

1. Mistaken in Claymore Ridge by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 31 Jan 2008)
From £0.01

2. Satan's Gun by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 30 Mar 2007)
From £0.01

3. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011) - Kindle eBook
From £7.99

4. The Ballad of Delta Rose by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £13.25

5. Last Reckoning for the Presidio Kid by Emmett Stone (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2011)
From £11.69

6. Revenge by Fire by Bill Williams (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £1.83

7. Iron Eyes Makes War by Rory Black (Hardcover - 30 Oct 2009)
From £1.83

8. Scar County Showdown by Elliot Long (Hardcover - 28 Feb 2011)
From £8.86

9. Gun Law by Lee Walker (Hardcover - 31 Dec 2009)
From £1.83

10. Coyote Falls by Colin Bainbridge (Hardcover - 28 Feb 2011)
From £11.93

Help me help the victims of Japan's earthquake

I write Westerns for Black Horse, but the quake in Japan (the nuclear power plants are about 200km north of my home in Chiba) got me to wondering what I could do to help. Of course I could (and do) volunteer, but I thought it would be good to provide everyone a chance to help.

Publishing by Rebecca Vickery and I have put together a slim volume of my stories set in Japan. One, A Matter of Tea, won the 2010 Oaxaca International Literature Competition. Naturally, it headlines the book.

This book is available on Smashwords (or will be by the first of the week) and costs only US 99 cents. All the income from this book will go to help victims of the 3/11 quake. They lost homes, belongings, and even family members. This is my best shot at helping them. And I'll make sure your contributions go to help real people, not the bureaucracy of a charitable organization. Please help. Order here.

Thanks. I'll report back.

Charlie Whipple

Review of Starpacker by David Whitehead

Tom Hunter has served just half of a 10 year sentence at Yuma for the theft of silver bullion and the murder of a stage driver and the guard... Read more at Broken Trails.

Black Horse Westerns at the book shop Waterstone's

I discovered at Howard Hopkins' site Dark Bits that the Black Horse Western has now ridden into Waterstones. Full of curiosity, I headed into town and lo and behold was overcome by a double whammy of excitement...

Read more and see the pictures at Joanne Walpole.

The Black Horse rides into Bookstores

The Western is dead. Whoa, pardner, jest you stop that there cowflop jawin', because it t'ain't so. Rumors of its demise have, as they say, been greatly exaggerated, and those ready kill off the genre may need to saddle their yaps...

Read more at Dark Bits

An interview with I. J. Parnham

Born and raised in England, Ian Joseph Parnham now lives in Scotland where he writes about the American West. An accountant by training, he has written more than two dozen novels for Hale’s Black Horse Western line and for Avalon Books Western line.

Parnham’s Black Horse novels run a straighter, darker line than his Avalon books, often with plenty of action and mystery. His Avalon novels are lighter, and Parnham tends to throw in unexpected elements that poke and prod at the illusions of the idealized West...

Read more at Booklifenow.com.

Bestselling Linford Westerns on Amazon - 4 April

1. Black River by Adam Wright (Paperback - 1 Apr 1999)
From £0.98

2. Cambden's Crossing by Billy Hall (Paperback - 1 Jun 2000)
From £0.01

3. Lone Hand by Corba Sunman (Paperback - 1 Mar 2001)
From £0.01

4. Talman's War by Richard Wyler (Paperback - 1 Oct 2007)
From £0.01

5. Darrow's Law by Gillian F. Taylor (Paperback - 1 Sep 2000)
From £0.01

6. Trail of the Long Riders by Lee Martin (Paperback - 1 Nov 1999)
From £0.01

7. Battle at Lost Mesa by Terrell L. Bowers (Paperback - 1 Jun 2003)
From £0.01

8. Bloody Trail to Dorado by Jim Lawless (Paperback - 1 Jun 2003)
From £0.06

9. The Long Chase by Jack Greener (Paperback - 1 Sep 2003)
From £0.01

10. The Wreckers by Geoffrey Armstrong and Jed McCloud (Paperback - 1 Sep 2003)
From £0.01

Review of Hard Road to Holford by by Greg Mitchell

Greg Mitchell brings together a fascinating group of people to play the central roles in this fast moving tale. His characters are easily identifiable with and you’ll soon be wondering if any of them are exactly who they say they are...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.