Western Fictioneers Book Review

Dawn in Damnation

(A Paranormal Western)

by Clark Casey

You are safe in judging Clark Casey’s paranormal western novel by its cover. To paraphrase an early TV drama: You are about to enter another dimension. One of sight, mind, and imagination. Next stop, Dawn in Damnation.

The cover depicting a cat-eyed cowboy with bloody canines is your first hint you are at the gates of the supernatural world. The second clue is the opening lines of the novel: “What happened?” asked the young man with a nickel sized bullet hole in his temple.

Imagine a western town, Damnation, where it is always dusk, and the gathering place is a saloon, The Foggy Dew. Now imagine that the patrons of the bar, drinking, fighting, and carousing, showed up here dead. Generally, they met their demise due to outrageous violence. Now they are awaiting their ultimate destination.

Mr. Thomas, the publisher of the local paper titled The Crapper ‘cause that is where most people read it, spells out the rules this way: “If you get shot while you are here, you go to hell forever. But if you don’t, you can hang out here in Damnation as long as you like, playing cards and maybe having a go at them old churchgoing ladies. If you can make it a whole year in Damnation without shootin’ no one, the Lord’ll forgive whatever you’ve done, and the gates of Heaven will open for you. Nobody has made it yet; the record is six months.”

Fueled by an out-of-this-world imagination, Clark Casey combines vampires, werewolves, the meanest of the mean, and the dumbest of the dumb into a very readable paranormal western.

—John Neely Davis The Chapman Legacy (coming in June)

Range War in Whiskey Hill

By Charles G West

Almost ten years ago, a wild eighteen-year-old Colt McCrae was sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he's received grim news: his estranged father has been murdered—shot in the back. His family needs Colt back home.

He returns to Whiskey Hill, Wyoming, but he’s not welcome by everyone. Colt means trouble—now more than ever. Because he knows who killed his father. Ruthless range baron Frank Drummond wants the land and will bury anyone who dares oppose him.

But now, Colt is back. And he’s no longer a kid with a chip on his shoulder. He’s a prison-hardened man with a mind for justice…

This was just a classic western!!

On the one hand you had a man who would not stop at anything to get what he wanted, while our hero had just been let out of prison for a crime he did not commit.

Throw in the hired killer, crooked sheriff and a town afraid of its own shadow and you have a good old fashioned range war.

The hero is believable and not bulletproof. I love these types of westerns and this story does not disappoint. It's just like you are watching a movie from the 50's and 60's. First Charles G West novel I have read and it definitely will not be the last.

—Brent Towns Author of Lightning Strike!

      

Wolf Creek #17: Comanchero Trail

Troy D. Smith

The newest Wolf Creek book is here -and it is intense.

Abby Potter and several of her soiled doves are traveling by wagon to the Breedlove ranch -to help the hands enjoy a barn dance -but they never make it. Kiowa war chief Stone Knife is back in Kansas, and he takes the girls captive, also killing several settlers along the way. Stone Knife takes the women southwest to the Llano Estacado to trade them to Comancheros.

A small rescue party from Wolf Creek goes after them: Ben Tolliver, Charley Blackhorse, Derrick McCain, Rev. Obadiah Stone, Jimmy Spotted Owl... and young cowboy Billy Below, whose true love Brandy is among the captives. Along the way they meet new allies: a Texas Ranger troop that includes Rangers Jake Blackwell and Jim Blawcyzk (from western series by Troy D. Smith and James J. Griffin). They also meet an enigmatic farmer, Tom Sallee, who is looking for the Comancheros for reasons of his own.

As I said at the outset, this volume is intense. In order to be true to the historical period and to demonstrate the stakes faced by women taken captive at that time, there are a couple of scenes that might be disturbing to some readers. The authors taking part, however, believe we have produced a powerful story.

Those writers are Jacquie Rogers, James J. Griffin, Chuck Tyrell, myself (Troy D. Smith), and John Neely Davis, in his first Wolf Creek appearance. If you are unfamiliar with our series, it is a Western Fictioneers production in which at this point almost thirty WF members have created their own unique characters who interact in collaborative novels. They appear under the house name "Ford Fargo." We have as much fun writing them as you do reading them.

Another Wolf Creek volume is coming along soon -in November -a short story anthology titled Hunter's Moon. It will feature events that will change the lives of several Wolf Creek citizens... watch for it.

Buy Comanchero Trail HERE