Sunday, February 10, 2013

Launching The Western Fictioneers Library


Introducing the Western Fictioneers Library, new editions of some of the best action-packed Western novels by top authors in the genre. The first entry in the line is RAW DEAL AT PASCO SPRINGS by Clay More, originally published by Robert Hale.

Lady Luck smiled down on ex-lawman Tom Mallory when he won the Diamond T ranch in a poker game.  Tom begins to wonder if it was actually bad fortune when he is ambushed and then rides into a gunfight where a hooded man in a long duster coat shoots a man pinned under his horse. Furious at this bushwhacking, Tom takes cards in this deadly game, and soon it starts to look like this gamble is going to be his last hand . . .

CLAY MORE is the pen name of award winning writer Keith Souter, a part time doctor, medical journalist and novelist working in four genres. He lives in England within arrow-shot of a haunted medieval castle and is a member of Western Fictioneers, Western Writers of America, the Crime Writers' Association and International Thriller Writers. He has a lifelong fascination with the Old West, medicine and the paranormal, hence his story 'Snake Oil,' which he wrote specially for Six-guns and Slay Bells: A Creepy Cowboy Christmas. In addition to this, his story, “Boot Hill Neighbors” was in The Traditional West, and he wrote the first two chapters of Western Fictioneers' first collaborative novel Wolf Creek: Bloody Trail. For more information see www.keithsouter.co.uk

RAW DEAL AT PASCO SPRINGS is only the first of many soon-to-be-released traditional Western reprints by members of the Western Fictioneers.

Review by James Reasoner:

RAW DEAL AT PASCO SPRINGS is just the sort of hardboiled Western novel I really enjoy. It starts with a lynching, but it's clear that this incident is more than simply the dispensing of some rough frontier justice. There's a mystery behind it, and the job of figuring out that mystery eventually falls to gambler Tom Mallory, who's more interested in settling down on the ranch he won in a poker game than he is in untangling a conspiracy and unmasking a murderer.

Tom is a former lawman, though, and those instincts lead him to pin on a badge again after Pasco Springs' sheriff is killed in an ambush, an attack that Tom witnesses. There are plenty of classic elements in this novel – a budding range war, a ruthless cattle baron, a beautiful saloonkeeper, an equally beautiful rancher's widow, and a trio of vicious gunmen – but the smooth, assured prose of veteran author Keith Souter, writing under the pseudonym Clay More, makes them all fresh and entertaining.

Tom Mallory is a fine character, too, a reluctant hero but plenty tough and capable enough to do what has to be done. He's at the center of a very enjoyable traditional Western that has me eager to read more by Keith Souter.

17 comments:

  1. Thank you Livia for reprinting my novel in the Western Fictioneers Library. I feel privileged to be working with the many fine writers in Western Fictioneers, and to be part of the group.

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  2. Thank you for your kind review, James. It is much appreciated.

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  3. Keith, thank you for allowing Western Fictioneers to reprint your books. I just finished reading Judge on the Run and it's as great as Raw Deal at Pasco Springs.

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  4. Livia, you are too kind!

    I am only too pleased to have them find such a good home.

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  5. Keith, I enjoyed your stories in "The Traditional West", "Six Guns and Slay Bells" and "Wolf Creek, Bloody Trail." You did a bang up job on those so I know that "Raw Deal at Pasco Springs" will be a good read.
    Jerry

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  6. And bravo for this new line of books!

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  7. Thank you, Jerry. You are a gentleman, sir.

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  8. Love finding more authors to add to the list. Also excited to hear that more books will be coming from Western Fictioneers. Keith, continued success. As I've said before, glad I can read quickly, but am falling behind at a rapid rate. Oh well.

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  9. One of the very best benefits of the new publishing world is we get to read books we missed the first time around. I'm hoping this is the first of many re-issues, Keith. Looks great!

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  10. Ooooh, I'm excited to see this line and Keith's book! Can't wait to read it!! I agree with Jacquie. :-D

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  11. Keith, I'm so happy to see the re-issue of your books with the Western Fictioneers. I've missed a lot of good books through the years of being a busy mom and working, but now I am determined to catch up. I know you are a master at setting the scene and developing your characters, and that's what I look for in a good story from the outset. Can't wait to lay my hands on this one! Best of luck with it!
    Cheryl

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  12. RW, many thanks. I know what you mean about lists. My TBR pile is needs a whole shelf.

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  13. Thank you, Jacquie. I am particularly pleased to be in the WF Library. Maybe we should nickname it the stable!

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  14. Thanks Meg and I hope that you enjoy it.

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  15. Thank you for your kind words, Cheryl. I empathise with the sentiment about missing things while you work and bring up a family. My wife and I barely remember anything that happened in the 80s, since we were so focused on work - I was on call a lot of the time - and looking after our three kids. It wasn't until our youngest was six that I remember actually being able to sit down with a book and a coffee.

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  16. Will definitely add this one to my list!! :-)

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