Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: TAPPAN'S BURRO

Jerry's House of Everything: SGORT STORY WEDNESDAY: TAPPAN'S BURRO: "Tappan's Burro" by Zane Grey  (first published in Ladies' Home Journal , June 1923; reprinted in Pearson's Magazine ,...

FFB Review: The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown by Eric Beetner

 From the archive... 

Author Eric Beetner continues the excellent The Lawyer series published by Beat to a Pulp with his entry Six Guns At Sundown.  The Lawyer, who used to go by the name of J. D. Miller, is on a quest to find those responsible for the brutal murders of his entire family. He now delivers justice by way of the gun and no longer relies on the courts to provide justice to those wronged.

 

He moves from place to place on his mare, Redemption, as he follows the trail of those responsible. He is currently pursuing a man known far and wide as “Big Jim Kimbrough.” The trail seems to be leading him to the decrypt town of Sundown where every building seems to lean a different way as if the entire town was created by drunks. At least he can find a place for his horse and roof for the night. The Westward Railroad might be coming there to build not only the rail line and their headquarters, but for now the place is clearly in a bad way.

 

So is the man dragged in on a rope behind a horse early the next morning. The Lawyer had planned to move on until the unfolding spectacle put his plans on hold. According to a Mr. Buchanan who dragged the unfortunate man by way of a rope tied to his horse he is to be lynched. The black man’s crime was that was that he ate a piece of cherry pie Buchanan’s wife made right out of the pan and using Buchanan’s own silverware. Not that dragging the hogtied man on the ground behind the horse the entire way from the ranch to town wasn’t enough Buchanan intends to hang him as fast as possible.

 

The lawyer hates bullies and won’t stand for them. He also believes in the rule of law and wants to know the full details of the situation. Not only is what the man did not a hanging offense in this period after the Civil War, Buchanan’s attitude seems to be illustrative of a town attitude that needs to change. The hunt for Big Jim Kimbrough will have to wait as the lawyer is going to prevent a hanging in Six Guns At Sundown.

 

Picking up the mantle laid down by Wayne D. Dundee in The Lawyer: Stay Of Execution followed by The Lawyer: The Retributioners author Eric Beetner has crafted a very good western tale. The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown is a western tale of mystery and racism that resonates strongly with events of today. The read does not preach as the storyline moves over a couple days period in the Old West. The result is another excellent tale in the series and yet another very good read from Beat to a Pulp.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dFNFxB

 

 

 

I picked this up by way of funds in my Amazon Associate Account in late February 2016.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016, 2026

 

Short Story Wednesday Review: Merrick: A Short Story by Ben Boulden

 

From the archive...

 

Almost from the beginning, the planned robbery of the armored stage goes wrong one day in Texas. Nobody was supposed to die. Clarence Tilley, had a good plan, but he didn’t plan for everything in Merrick: A Short Story.

 

A robbery gang is only as good as its weakest link. The point is proven again and again in this fast moving western tale by Ben Boulden. Filled with plenty of action, intrigue and deceit, as well as need for justice, the story recounts how Merrick does what needs to be done to settle things as best as can be done in the hard scrabble West. Like his novel, Blaze: Red Rock Rampage, the short story, Merrick, is highly recommended. 

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4d9bGMC

 

  

Digital ARC was provided by the author for my use in an objective review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2017, 2023, 2026

The Hard Word: GENTLEMAN AND GUNMEN: R.F. RYAN'S OF A DIFFERENT STAMP

 The Hard Word: GENTLEMAN AND GUNMEN: R.F. RYAN'S OF A DIFFERENT STAMP

Market Call Facebook -- One Eyed Press

Shotgun Honey is relaunching this and they want novellas 8k to 30K. More info at  https://submissions.shotgunhoney.com/publication/one-eye-press/ 

Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: THE RESTLESS GUN: DUEL AT LOCKWOOD (SEPTEMBER 23, 1957)

Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: THE RESTLESS GUN: DUEL AT...: John Payne is Vint Bonner ("The Six Shooter"), a wandering cowboy after the Civil War with a reputation as a sharpshooter.  Despit...

Gravetapping: Review: "Branded" by Ed Gorman

Gravetapping: Review: "Branded" by Ed Gorman: Branded by Ed Gorman Berkley, 2004   “He wanted to build himself a cigarette, but his hands were covered with the w...

The Hard Word: MORE THAN A MAN AND HIS DOG THIS TIME: PETER BRANDVOLD'S THE MAN FROM DAKOTA

 The Hard Word: MORE THAN A MAN AND HIS DOG THIS TIME: PETER BRANDVOLD'S THE MAN FROM DAKOTA

The Hard Word: THADD TURNER'S THE HARD RIDE

 The Hard Word: THADD TURNER'S THE HARD RIDE

The Hard Word: A WEST WILD & WEIRD: FREDERIC S. DURBIN'S THE COUNTRY UNDER HEAVEN

 The Hard Word: A WEST WILD & WEIRD: FREDERIC S. DURBIN'S THE COUNTRY UNDER HEAVEN

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: Gentry On Sale by Caroline Clemmons

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: Gentry On Sale by Caroline Clemmons:   Gentry and the Mail Order Bride: Texas Hill Country Mail Order Brides 1 by Caroline Clemmons Amazon Buy Link Happy New Year!  Gentry is th...

The Hard Word: "YOU JUST PULL UP THE BOARDS AND FIND MORE PLOTS...": IRON STAR'S LOREN D. ESTLEMAN

 The Hard Word: "YOU JUST PULL UP THE BOARDS AND FIND MORE PLOTS...": IRON STAR'S LOREN D. ESTLEMAN

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Vengeance at Sundown by Larry D. Sweazy

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Vengeance at Sundown by Larry D. Sweazy

The Hard Word: SHOOT EM' UP FUN:STEVE HOCKENSMITH'S NO HALLOWED GROUND

 The Hard Word: SHOOT EM' UP FUN:STEVE HOCKENSMITH'S NO HALLOWED GROUND

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: OUTLAW GUNS

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: OUTLAW GUNS:   Outlaw Guns  by "Murray Leinster" (Will F. Jenkins) (originally published as "Wanted -- Dead or Alive," a four-part se...

FFB Review: The Guns of Retribution by Icy Sedgewick

 

From the massive archive…

 

The plan is for Bounty Hunter Grey O’ Donnell, Mahko, and Billy Cole to get on board the train as it comes out the canyon a few miles away from Retribution, Arizona. O’Donnell knows Blackjack Hudson is on the train and planning to steal a large package out of the mail car located near the rear of the train. That large package, wrapped in plain brown wrapping paper, will contain a lot of bank notes. O’Donnell knows Blackjack Hudson snuck onboard the train in Dawson and will sneak right back off the train in Retribution with the package if O’Donnell and his men do nothing.

O’ Donnell’s plan is for the trio to ride single file behind the train as it enters a small forest at the edge of the canyon. Then Billy Cole and O’Donnell will jump on board and deal with taking custody of Blackjack Hudson. Mahko will handle the horses and assist with the extraction when everyone is ready. Any guards onboard should be at the front of the train and not worried about anything happening at the rear where the mail is stored. Grey O’Donnell hopes with the length of the train, the dust, and the fact the guards aren’t used to worrying about the mail, that no one will look back and see them. With so few people on the goods train the plan is for no one to know they were ever there. Get in, quietly get their man, and then get out the way they came.

The plan was great in theory. It would have worked too if Jasper Roberts hadn’t shown up to cause interference. But, he is there. To make things worse, he is acting as a lawman. Now O’Donnell has another score to settle in The Guns of Retribution by Icy Sedgwick.

Plenty of action, detailed characters with considerable backstory, and lots of scene setting details make this western novella a very good read. The author sets the mood quickly and pulls the reader into the world of Bounty Hunter Greg O’Donnell before throwing a number of surprises at the reader. The Guns of Retribution is an exceptionally good western that works from start to finish. Icy Sedgewick is clearly an author to keep an eye on. 

 

Amazon says I picked this up October 2015. I have no idea now if this was by way of a free read by the author or if I used funds in my Amazon Associate account.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016, 2024

 

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – LOST MOUNTAIN PASS BY LARRY D. SWEAZY

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – LOST MOUNTAIN PASS BY LARRY D. SWEAZY

The Hard Word: YOUNG MAN WITH A STAR: A REVIEW OF BLOOD ON THE TRAIL BY TERRENCE MCCAULEY

 The Hard Word: YOUNG MAN WITH A STAR: A REVIEW OF BLOOD ON THE TRAIL BY TERRENCE MCCAULEY

Favorite Books of 2022

Back in July, I told you of my five favorite books of the year to that point. Today as the year winds to a close, I give you more favorites.

As I have said before, I remain very slow reading wise. The books selected refer my personal tastes, biases, and all that jazz. I am not saying that these are the best books. I am stating that they were my favorites during the past year.

An Unforgiving Place: A National Park Mystery by Claire Kells picks up a few weeks after Vanishing Edge. On assignment in Denali National Park, Investigative Service Branch Special Agent Felicity Harland is sent to the Gates of the Artic National Park to investigate the discovery of two bodies.

It is mid December 1935 as Funeral Train: A Dust Bowl Mystery by Laurie Loewenstein begins and life has been brutal in the panhandle of Oklahoma with the ongoing Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The good people of Vermillion, Oklahoma, and the surrounding area are facing adversity on a daily basis and hanging on by their fingernails. A train derailment, a murder, and much more has a huge impact on all in this excellent sequel to Death of A Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery.

Murder at the Jubilee Rally: A Samuel Craddock Mystery by Terry Shames opens with many of the locals less than thrilled with the coming event featuring motorcycle folks from all over. They won’t be happy about the murder either.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I love a good western. Larry D. Sweazy always makes that happen and did with Lost Mountain Pass. It is May 1988 and Judge Gordon Hadesworth and U.S. Deputy Marshall Sam “Trusty” Dawson plan to get out of town fast now that the three Darby brothers, Cleatus, Horace, and Rascal, are swinging slowly from the gallows and are most assuredly dead.

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones is the third book in the series that began with A Bad Day For Sunshine. This is a series that must be read in order. Along with some personal stuff that has just happened here in book three, Sheriff Sunshine Vicram and her team have two missing people to find and the case of a critically injured woman out at Copper Canyon. Rescuing her and then finding out what happened to her drives the novel forward alongside several complicated secondary story lines that have been playing out this entire series.

There you have it. Five in July and five more now. Enjoy the reads. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: BY THE GUNS FORGOT

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: BY THE GUNS FORGOT:  "By the Guns Forgot" by "Murray Leinster"  (Will F. Jenkins) (from Fifteen Western Tales , December 1947; reprinted in ...