EDGE: THE PRISONERS

For those of you who may not be familiar with this series, the Edge books were – as the cover indicates – “The Most Violent Westerns in Print”.  Some of them even came with a “Warning – This story is not for the faint of heart” disclaimer on the first printed page of the book.  For good reason, too.

George G. Gilman (actually Britain’s very own Terry Harknett) created Edge as just the opposite of “warm and fuzzy” and succeeded on every possible level.  The anti-hero character, first created in the Eastwood “Man With No Name” Western movies, is a good way to describe Edge as well.  In fact, the comparisons to Spaghetti Westerns came fast and furious during Terry’s heyday of writing these books and probably long afterwards too as people discovered these stories in subsequent years. 

When I once asked George/Terry about his use of so-called “dark humor” and his use of puns as chapter closers, he told me that he wanted to be sure that the reader was in on the joke and that this was all written in fun.  None of it should be taken seriously as it is just entertainment and nothing more. Makes sense to me.

This particular story pits Edge against Indian Outlaw Joe Straw to see which one of them is least loveable.  I have to give the edge to Edge (so to speak) here because he lasted through 10 more Pinnacle Books (although the series ran much longer in England) while Joe, not surprisingly, meets an ironic end at the closing of THE PRISONERS. 

LEATHERHAND

This book was given to me by a friend while I was recuperating from having three impacted wisdom teeth removed in the spring of 1983 during a brief time at Cape May, New Jersey.  I probably wasn’t the only one amused by the fact that each of those three wisdom teeth were, in some way, retarded.  I was on the ward with three other guys who had the same type of oral surgery.  For a couple of days we all looked like chipmunks.  I was glad to finally wake up on the third day not having a bloody pillow stuck to my face.

Anyway, I was quite captivated by LEATHERHAND when I first read it.  Mike Wales was a new name to me in the field of Westerns and as it turned out, we became good friends via mail and the telephone.  We never did personally meet. 

LEATHERHAND lasted only 8 books, before Mike’s untimely death.  The last book, DARK NEMESIS, signaled a change in packaging and presentation and left me with an idea of where the series would have gone had Mike lived to continue it.

One day, out of the blue, I got a call from Mike’s adult son, Kenny Dalton, informing me of Mike’s death.  Apparently Mike had my number somewhere in his personal effects and Kenny called not only to tell me what had happened but to thank me for befriending his dad. 

I can’t imagine that any of the LEATHERHAND books will be easy for you to find, even in used book emporiums, because they were so good that people probably are holding on to them.  It would be a trip to see them find new life through another publisher, though.

CORD

Steven Krauzer and William Kittredge’s first collaborative effort as “Owen Rountree”. 

I actually remember very little about this book, but do recall seeing only 8 of them before Ballantine stopped publishing Westerns. 

Guess it’s time to re-read the entire series.

THE GUNSMITH: QUANAH'S REVENGE

I have a special place for this one because it is the first GUNSMITH book I’d ever read. 

By the way, the real Cynthia Parker was not really what you’d call a “raving beauty”, so the cover artist was being nice here if indeed he was trying to depict Cynthia here. 

THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON

THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON is the inaugural novel in a new series by Larry D. Sweazy, featuring Texas Ranger, Josiah Wolfe.

What grabbed me about this one right away?  First, I love any story featuring Texas Rangers.  Secondly, my friend Loren D. Estleman provides a cover blurb here and Loren's recommendations are ALWAYS good enough for me.  Finally, check out that cover art.  It really caught my attention as I was browsing through the Western section at the Wal-Mart in Gravois Bluffs in Fenton, Missouri, not far from where I live.  Berkely has done its usual good job of great cover art.  I'm holding out hope that this, in part, helps to sell the books.

As I was reading this one last year, I recall thinking that the torch really has been passed.  Ask any Western writer today who his or her inspirations were and they are likely to rattle off a list of old-timers who shaped the printed Western novel at its inception to inspire a generation of writers who, in turn, are our leading authors today. 

If THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON is any indication, the torch is in capable hands at present and I'm curious to see whom our Writers today will influence tomorrow and what we'll be seeing from the future crop.  I trust all will flourish.

WEST TEXAS KILL

The books of Johnny D. Boggs are new to me.  He is just another of my recent discoveries that have rekindled my interest in – and love for – the Western novel.

WEST TEXAS KILL is the story of a Texas Ranger, Hec Savage, who has gone to the “dark side”, as it were.  Of course it’s up to a fellow (honest) Ranger, Dave Chance, to bring Savage in or kill him.  Or die trying. 

Grim and gritty, the realism here is right in your face.  Which is where it needs to be in a novel like this.

THE WIDOWMAKER: INVITATION TO A HANGING

There was just this and one other book in THE WIDOWMAKER series before Pocket Books decided they didn’t want to publish any more westerns.

Too bad, really, because Bob Randisi had something really good here. 

But knowing Bob, he’ll bounce back with a new Western series that may breathe life into THE WIDOWMAKER once again.  Stranger things have happened.