Cover for Night of the Gunslinger

I've just had a first sighting of the cover for my 2013 title Night of the Gunslinger and I'm very pleased with it. I always enjoy covers that complement the title and this one has a night scene and it has a gunslinger in it, so I couldn't really ask for anything more!

The title will be published in April and my draft blurb was as follows:

With the town marshal laid up with a broken leg, Deputy Rick Cody must stand alone to protect New Town during a night of mayhem. At sunup Edison Dent will stand trial for Ogden Reed's murder. Although Rick suspects that Edison is innocent, he also reckons his own sister knows more than she's prepared to reveal.

With Rick having only one night to uncover the truth, his task is made harder when the outlaw Hedley Beecher plots to free the prisoner while Ogden's brother Logan vows to kill Edison and anyone who stands in his way. Within an hour of sundown four men are dead, and so begins the longest and bloodiest night of Rick's life.

The Secret of Devil's Canyon in Large Print

I've just received my copies of the Large Print version of The Secret of Devil's Canyon. This is my 16th Linford Western and I'm delighted with it.

I used to be mildly irritated that Ulverscroft chose generic western imagery for their covers with little or no attempt to match cover to story. Outdoor stories would get a saloon picture while town stories would get scenery, man alone stories would get lots of folk and large outlaw gangs would get a solitary man etc. But recently that appears to have changed. Last year's Railroad to Redemption got a picture of rail tracks and now a story about a lynch mob gets, well, a lynching. Even the typeface is a bit wobbly conjuring up the feeling that it's a tale involving a mystery.

Long may whoever is in charge of picking the covers keep up the good work!

ISBN: 9781444812763
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 240 Pages
Published - 01-10-2012
Genre - Western
Price - £ 8.99

When Mayor Maxwell and his daughter are brutally murdered, feelings in Bear Creek run high. And 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. Nathaniel, just one step ahead of the pursuing mob, loses ground, then realizes that he's facing an even bigger problem: his prisoner may be innocent after all...

Fergal O'Brien now available on Kindle

After AmazonEncore took over Avalon's western backlist, it would appear that my Fergal O'Brien series is now starting to become available on Kindle, and they've started with the sixth book in the series The Miracle of Santa Maria.

Thankfully knowledge of the earlier books in the series isn't essential and this book contains the usual mixture of light-hearted fun and adventure, with the added benefit this time round of plenty of sarsaparilla, shakespeare and sword-fighting. The book is now available for £2.55 from the uk site and $4.11 from the us site.

The Mission Santa Maria catered to Sundown's needs until bandits murdered their nuns. The young Maria is the only survivor, yet the massacre she witnessed sends her into an endless sleep. For two years she lies unconscious in the mission, gradually becoming weaker, before Bishop Finnegan notices. Unsympathetically, he decides to close the mission, which is sure to speed her demise.

With her outlook quickly becoming bleak, the devious snake-oil seller Fergal O'Brien rides into town. Although Fergal is typically interested in making a quick dollar, Maria's plight touches him. He attempts to wake her with what he claims is his universal remedy. Not surprisingly, though, his tonic fails.

An undaunted Fergal vows to help her by persuading Finnegan to keep the mission open. The bishop, however, decides that the lawless Sundown is too dangerous for a mission. The only options are to hope for a miracle or clean up Sundown with fearless gun-toting skills. Unfortunately for Fergal, though, he has never used a gun in his life.  

Buy from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

Cover for Devine

The cover for my next Black Horse Western is now available and it's certainly action-packed and blood-soaked. It doesn't actually depict any scene from the novel, but it's a vivid and lively picture and so I'm very happy with it. Devine will be published in December and it will be available from all the usual sources and libraries.

Pinkerton detective Nimrod Dunn is hired by Lieutenant Governor Maddox Kingsley to infiltrate an outlaw gang, but when Nimrod's cover is blown an innocent life is lost in the raging gun battle. With Nimrod's detective career in tatters, the fearsome US Marshal Jake T. Devine sets about bringing the outlaw Cornelius to justice. Devine always gets his man, but his methods are as brutal as those whom he pursues.

So with Devine's blood-soaked trail making a mockery of the Governor's promise to clean up the county, Maddox calls on Nimrod's services once more. And, to resurrect his career, Nimrod must carry out the most dangerous mission yet: to kill Marshal Devine.

Addendum

My wise Black Horse friends have pointed out that some inspiration for this picture may have been derived from the Kevin Costner film Open Range (see below). Although I'm no fan of Costner's westerns and tend to the view that the only drawback to the recent revival of western films is the increased danger that Costner will make another one, this only makes me love the cover all the more!

Sheriff Without a Star goes to Large Print

I've just received the welcome news that my December 2011 title Sheriff Without a Star will be going to Large Print. It should appear as a Linford Western paperback around September 2013. It will be my 18th Linford Western.

Despite his four years of distinguished service Sheriff Cassidy Yates lost the confidence of Monotony's townsfolk because his error of judgement has led to the death of Leland Matlock's son. But when the star Cassidy had worn with pride was removed from his chest, Leland claimed he knew something that would shed new light on the sheriff's downfall.

Before Leland could reveal what he knew he was shot, but Cassidy still had the instincts of a lawman. He believed Leland's shooting was connected to the death of his son and that if he could uncover the link it would restore the townsfolk's confidence in him. So Cassidy embarked on his greatest ever challenge: to get the star pinned back on his chest where it belonged.

Review of Beyond Redemption

As a child Jeff Dale witnessed the terrible aftermath of an atrocity. Elmer Drake killed three members of a family and when the surviving girl Cynthia went missing, Jeff vowed that one day he’d find her, no matter how long it took....

Read more at Western Fiction Review

R.I.P. Harry Harrison

I was saddened to hear the news of the death of one of the great SF authors at the age of 87. Harry was still producing entertaining novels right up until the end and as I've read nearly all of them, I'd guess I might have read more of his books than any other author.

His novels were nearly always short, they never outstayed their welcome, and they were always a lot of fun, even the serious ones. His best creation was the Stainless Steel Rat, a brilliant anti-hero comic creation, along with Bill, the Galactic Hero. His most famous novel was perhaps Make Room, Make Room, which stands up as being one of the best dystopian futures even if the film version Soylent Green was a fairly tepid version of the story.

My personal favourite was Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers, a send-up of the EE Doc Smith style of space opera and I've just remembered I queued up once back in the 70s to get a signed copy of one his books. I remember he was smiling a lot while he signed, and I did too while reading his books.