Saturday, 12 November 2011

Issue #24 of Black Horse Extra available


A shrinking percentage of Black Horse Western authors are veteran, lifetime professional writers with credits in multiple genres and media: film, television, paperback originals, and comic books. Today, many more are novices and sometimes retirees from other professions or trades, realizing lifelong dreams of seeing their work in print through the good offices of the books' UK publisher, Robert Hale Ltd...

Read more, including articles on Paul Green and Cody Wells, Mike Stotter and 'Gunfighters and their weapons' here.

Friday, 11 November 2011

Review of Fort Revenge by Ralph Hayes


Back in the early 1970s Ralph Hayes wrote a short series of books featuring O’Brien, later in 1992 O’Brien made a comeback and here is his next appearance, nearly twenty years later.

Ralph Hayes does make a couple of references to those early adventures, but if you haven’t read, or are even aware of those first books, these references will pass you by, and definitely will not spoil your enjoyment of this book.

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Monday, 7 November 2011

Bestsellers on Amazon - 7 November

1. Silver Express by Gillian F. Taylor (Hardcover - 30 Sep 2009)
From £5.40

2. The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £3.19

3. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2010)
From £4.99

4. The Ballad of Delta Rose by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.95

5. Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £1.10

6. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011
Buy: £6.86

7. Gun Law by Lee Walker (Hardcover - 31 Dec 2009)
From £1.34

8. Battle at Gun Barrel Canyon by Wolf Lundgren (Hardcover - 31 Aug 2011)
From £10.13

9. Comanchero Trail by Jack Dakota (Hardcover - 30 Sep 2011)
From £9.66

10. The Drummond Band by William Durey (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.93

Sunday, 6 November 2011

An Interview with Terry James


Q. Has your storytelling style changed at all between the writing of Shadows to Echoes to Ghosts, either by design, default or just experience, and if so, could you tell us a little about the how or maybe the why?

A. Yes, I believe my writing has changed and is continually changing. I used to write for the enjoyment of the story telling but these days I find the composition the more interesting part of the writing process. Therefore, I'd say my style has changed, and continues to change, because I want every story I write to be unique from anything else I've done...

Read more at Joanne Walpole.

Saturday, 5 November 2011

E-BHWs - October 2011


Gunhawk by John Long

Jeff Rand, a feared and vengeful gunslinger since his family were murdered, is persuaded by Jim Miller to give up his gunning and join him in peaceful gold-mining. All goes well until one day Jeff returns to camp to find Miller murdered and the gold stolen. Jeff rides off in a black mood of revenge. But after a saloon fracas, he is forced by gunmen to take part in a bank raid. Then the raiders are ambushed and though Jeff escapes with half the gang, they accuse him of informing and beat him up. Can Jeff extricate himself? Can he clear his name and can he bring the murderers to justice? Lead must fly before he can find the answers.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


Arizona Pay-off by Duke Patterson

When Tex Scarron, six feet of whipcord and steel, rode home to the Bar X in Arizona, he found Parson Dean and his gang working a lucrative ‘protection’ racket. Any rancher who failed to pay up had his cattle rustled, his homestead burnt about his ears and his cowhands shot in the back. Tex’s earlier experience fighting hoodlums came in handy, and the gunplay was fast and furious before he rid the territory of the Parson, solved the mystery that lay behind the racket, and incidentally found happiness with the mysterious outlaw girl whose trail had so often crossed his own.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


A Colt for the Kid by John Saunders

Johnnie Callum was a half-grown boy when Donovan’s riders stamped his parents’ homestead flat and sent him running terrified into the night. He ran far and fast over the trackless range that was Donovan’s empire and fetched up in the hands of Josh Manders, a brutal sheepherder. Manders worked him hard and in six years came near to breaking Johnnie’s spirit. But not near enough. Finally, there came a day when Johnnie’s resentment took charge and his big, bony hands wrapped around Manders’ throat in an unshakable hold. Johnnie took Manders’ horse and then worked for Sam Stevens. But when Donovan was all set up to wipe out Stevens’ ranch Johnnie began to get gun-minded!

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


Dead Man's Range by Paul Durst

The murder trail was eight years old when Jeff Carmody got out of Huntsville Prison and the only clue he had was the rowel of a broken spur he had found that night beside Clint Merriweather’s body. Booth Anson’s rambling Anvil range hemmed the tiny Merriweather ranch on all sides, but Clint’s widow, Anne, hung stubbornly on. Anson had killed to build his empire – his was a dead man’s range. But a woman stood in his way now – would he balk at killing a woman? That was when Carmody picked up his gun.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent

Dave Frome was a man with a secret past, which only a few friends knew. Holding himself responsible for the death of his family, he had vowed never to carry a gun again. He wanted to be left alone to raise cattle on his Broken Arrow spread, but mining interests were in the hills, contaminating the water which brought life to Frome's cattle.

Hesta Le Roy, daughter of a neighbouring rancher, was horrified when Frome refused to carry a gun against the miners who had, she thought, killed her own brother. It is not until he sees an innocent man brutally lynched that Frome buckles on his gun to battle with the bad men of both factions and eventually win the hand of the girl he loves.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Review of Ghosts of Bluewater Creek by Terry James


By telling the story mainly through the eyes of the three main characters, Terry James is able to leave one or more of them in dangerous situations before switching to one of the others therefore ensuring the reader will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Review of Encounter at Salvation Creek by Paxton Johns


This is the first book to carry the author name of Paxton Johns, and it proves to be a very good debut. Born Gallant makes for an engaging hero, a man who sees the humour in his own name, can play the out-of-his-depth greenhorn perfectly to throw his adversaries off balance, doesn’t carry a gun of his own, but is exceptionally sharp-witted and can more than stand his ground in a fight...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Monday, 31 October 2011

New E-BHW available on Amazon.

Interestingly this week 2 of the top 4 spots in the amazon bestseller charts (see below) are Kindle titles, these being the only two E-BHWs Hale have released so far.


The latest release is The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent and it's available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com at the competitive price of £3.19 and $5.09.

The book was released in hardback in Dec 2009, although the title itself was published originally in 1958.

Dave Frome was a man with a secret past, which only a few friends knew. Holding himself responsible for the death of his family, he had vowed never to carry a gun again. He wanted to be left alone to raise cattle on his Broken Arrow spread, but mining interests were in the hills, contaminating the water which brought life to Frome's cattle.

Hesta Le Roy, daughter of a neighbouring rancher, was horrified when Frome refused to carry a gun against the miners who had, she thought, killed her own brother. It is not until he sees an innocent man brutally lynched that Frome buckles on his gun to battle with the bad men of both factions and eventually win the hand of the girl he loves.


I'll post the links to the many E-BHWs titles that'll be appearing over the next few months when they become available to purchase.

Bestsellers on Amazon - 31 October

1. The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £3.19

2. Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £1.24

3. Desperate Men by Corba Sunman (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2008)
From £0.01

4. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011)
Buy: £6.86

5. Gun Law by Lee Walker (Hardcover - 31 Dec 2009)
From £1.37

6. Battle at Gun Barrel Canyon by Wolf Lundgren (Hardcover - 31 Aug 2011)
Buy new: £13.25

7. Comanchero Trail by Jack Dakota (Hardcover - 30 Sep 2011)
Buy new: £13.25

8. Guns of Wrath by Colin Bainbridge (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2011)
Buy new: £13.25

9. The Drummond Band by William Durey (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.94

10. In the High Bitter Roots by William Durey (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2011)
Buy new: £13.25

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Black Horse Westerns - October 2011


Captain Talbot's Reckoning by A. Doran Leishman

Captain Nathan Talbot lost just about everything in the late Civil War, including his self respect and his honour. But he had begun to think that his days of notoriety were over, his life in a quiet backwater unremarked until an unexpected bequest brought him to the Saville ranch, to a family in deep trouble. But they were a family who had already suffered a crippling loss because of Nathan Talbot and it seemed only a matter of time before they found out who he really was. And the closer Talbot gets to the truth about who is trying to destroy Saville, the closer he comes to his own personal reckoning.


Cut-Price Lawman by Tyler Hatch

They wanted a sheriff they could control, to run the town their way. Chris Cade seemed to fit the bill - a drifter, drunk, stupid with toothache, and broke. It was easy to pin a badge on him. However, after that it got harder. Cade has his own agenda, his own set of rules, a pair of hard fists and a fast gun. They figured they'd got him for a cut-rate, but the price they had to pay put them deep in the red - and the well-turned soil of Boot Hill.


The Shadow of Iron Eyes by Rory Black

Blinded after an accident the infamous bounty hunter known as Iron Eyes roams south aimlessly hoping his sight might return when his instinct leads him to the scene of brutal murder. Flames lick the sky as bodies burn within the confines of a small cattle ranch. As Iron Eyes dismounts and tries to learn more, he hears and feels rifle fire. Wounded, he falls, and then lies helpless as someone attempts to finish the job. What happens next leads the injured bounty hunter further south to a place where only the Devil would feel at home. A place where the law has never ventured, a place where Iron Eyes will kill anyone who stands in his way.


The Hired Ace by Clay Starmer

For seasoned gunslinger Reno Valance, trouble is a trade. It's just as well when he reaches White Falls. This place seethes, and soon mayhem reigns. With bullets flying, Reno must act. He'll take a sheriff's oath and his Remington six-gun. Add twenty years delivering the cards of death to bad men, is it enough? Murder, bank robbery and carnage - Reno must battle all. Amid all this, evil killers kidnap the woman he loves. Can Reno restore order? Can he rescue Anna May? Over two decades he's known only victory. Can he prove again that hell is in the hand of The Hired Ace?


Ghosts of Bluewater Creek by Terry James

Josh McCabe is a man hunter with one thing on his mind; to bring in Abe Lawton, the last and most vicious member of a gang who killed his wife and son. Now that time has arrived, but what Josh doesn't count on is a smart-mouthed kid out for revenge and a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the showdown comes it's quick but far from decisive and leaves all three facing a new, more dangerous future.


Payback at Valley Forge by Emmett Stone

John Mitchum arrives in Sagegrease straight into a heap of trouble. Someone is stalking him. To get some answers he must ride the long trail to Black Valley and towards his own past. The race is on. Who will get there first? Mitchum must contend all the way with Turkey Joe Mulligan and his vicious gang of outlaws. But there are others with a stake in the eventual outcome: the rich owner of the Quarter Circle and the mysterious stranger Challoner. It's payback time for somebody, but who?


Fort Revenge by Ralph Hayes

When buffalo hunter O'Brien is wrongly accused of rustling by ranch hands and has to kill the rancher's son to defend himself from hanging, he thought his life had already taken a bad turn. However, within a day's ride from that violent scene, he happens upon Sarah Carter. Together they follow the dangerous road to Fort Revenge, where Sarah is due to wed Jake Latimer. It becomes clear that Latimer is not the man for Sarah, but can O'Brien save Sarah as well as dealing with his own troubles from the past...


Let the Guns Decide by Shane Archer

Death comes to Macallister in the form of a milk-drinking baby-faced killer who leaves bodies in the dust. Lone Lee Kirby rides into a town desperate for help, but the body count grows as Kirby is forced to face his own demons.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Amos Carr's new website

New Black Horse western writer Amos Carr's (AKA Gillian McDonald-Constable) website is now on-line at http://womanwholeads.webs.com/.

Gillian's first BHW The Ghosts of Poynter will be published June 2012.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Review of The Last Mann by Hank J. Kirby


Cattle breeding is just the backbone to this story, it plays little part to the main thrust of the plot, this being a bounty placed on Jubal Mann by an unknown enemy, which leads to a number of well written violent confrontations. The pace of the book is superb, as one would expect from this author...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.