Broken Trails

Blogger

2011-10-11T23:38:00.003+01:00

Recently new blogs from here have had to be published via a roundabout route.
The Wowzio thing has disappeared - hasn't been seen for some time.
People leave comments - but I can't reply.
I read other peoples' blogs - David Cranmer, Patti Abbott, James Reasoner, Gary Dobbs et al - just can't leave a comment.
Everywhere I go I'm told to sign in - and arrive back at the dashboard where I'm already signed in.
Tried with this computer.
Tried with my laptop.
Tried with the library computer.
Tried with my son's blackberry thingy.
My daughters, granddaughters and sons have tried via their computers and discovered that the problem exists no matter what they do.

For a while I thought that this was just happening to me. Until someone else e-mailed me to say that I wasn't alone and that they had heard from someone else that their blog had gone the same way.

So what has Blogger.com got to say about that? Dunno, as soon as you hit the 'contact us' button you get 'You have to be signed in to do that' kind of message.

Maybe, I shouldn't have tried the updated Blogger interface.

It seems that every year Broken Trails has been hit. Last year it was wrong security certificates - spam - etc. Now it has reached the stage where I'm thinking three strikes and I'm out of here.
I'll continue to read blogs but won't be able to comment.

MOTORCYCLE ACTION GROUP: ACTION THIS DAY

2011-09-25T10:57:00.004+01:00

Take a good look at this picture. The customisation to this bike involved the likes of old stainless steel bread bins. It was built as a tribute to Captain America - the comic book hero.
We can do this.
I recall that even back in the sixties that many of the old Rockers or bikers made spare parts for our bikes. Even back then manufacturers' parts were pretty expensive.
So, from simple beginnings the customisation of bikes has grown.
Rat bikes, streetfighters, custom bikes and trikes are all around us now. Love them or hate them - you have to admire the workmanship; the artistic design - poetry in motion.
So, why change something that doesn't need fixing?
Yes, the EU wants to bring in regulations that effectively ends the customisation of bikes. Trikes would cease to exist unless they came from a manufacturer.
And - because they don't have a brain between them - this government will rubber stamp a regulation that, effectively, outlaws individuality.

So, if you are out and about today and your journey is delayed it is because there is a MAG demonstration.
From 1 pm you will find bikes and trikes in the slow lane for about 20mins. And while this may be a touch disruptive I hope that some of the car drivers join in.

Love or hate bikers - your car will be next. No more custom cars or hotrods.
Any EU Regulation takes away OUR individuality - takes away who WE are.

Demos will take place on M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, M9, M20, M25,M40, M42 and M62. Also, A1, A12, A14, A34, A38, A55 and A90 - and those are just for starters.

For once, forget any prejudices - your individuality could be next.

JOHN BURKE - R.I.P.

2011-09-23T23:51:00.002+01:00

Sadly, I have to write and report that the author John Burke died on the 20th September 2011 after a long illness.

John Burke was an inspirational writer and he will be missed.
My condolences go to his family and my thanks to Bronwen Burke who left a comment to advise of his death.

Some more about the life and work of John Burke can be found earlier on this site.

DEAD ISLAND by Mark Morris

2011-09-18T20:45:00.003+01:00

In the beginning there was the trailer that millions tuned into. Dead Island looked to be the must have game of the year. Both the game and the novel were released on the 9th September and sold out on the day. Telephoned 'Game' and was told by that the game had not been released.
Seven days on and without anymore copies of the game to be found in stores or on-line I began to think that the hype was in full swing. I could imagine that the distributors were sitting around laughing as they made gamers hungry for the game.

Fortunately, Bantam have issued the novelisation of the game by Mark Morris. And a good job too for, having now read the book, I don't really need the game.

So four heroes and heroines are off on their hols (well, three are) on the paradise island of Banoi. One hit wonder Sam B is ready to make a comeback; ex-NFL footballer Logan is on holiday and Sydney cop, Purna, is taking time out after she has killed off a child abuser. The hotel receptionist, Xian Mai makes up the fourth. The thing they have in common is an immunity to the virus that is about to turn the population of Banoi into zombies.
It is a gory fight for survival as each character tries to deal with an unreal scenario. Zombies only exist in games - right? Each of the four have to come to terms with a very real enemy - and it turns out that zombies are just a minor problem.
I loved the moment where they come across a book rack that has Nevil Shute and Harold Robbins novels.

Mark Morris has produced one of the best game novelisations to date. He lives in Yorkshire. His first novel 'Toady' was published in 1989. Since then he has written sixteen books including four for the 'Dr Who' series. He is now working on the novelisation of a 1970s Hammer film 'Vampire Circus'.

THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott

2011-09-18T20:07:00.003+01:00

My reading, just lately, seems to have developed a theme. First there was assisted suicide (Ruth Dugdall's 'The Sacrificial Man'); next came child abuse ('The Kid' by Kevin Lewis) and now something different that has a connection.
On the face of it Lizzie and Evie are two 13 year old girls who not only are the best of friends but live next door to each other. They share everything and know each other very well.
Megan Abbott's 'The End Of Everything' is a lot deeper than it first appears.
Told in the first person by Lizzie the reader learns that there are more to certain relationships than meet the eye. Some of it is innocent, though even that depends on how it is interpreted.
Evie disappears.
Has she been abducted?
Lizzie has clues and theories to offer - some presented as a lie yet are true in meaning.
The novel, set in the 1980s, is complex which makes it difficult to review.
What I really loved was a prose that could have come from Jack Kerouac (notably 'Visions Of Cody') and a story that evoked the atmosphere of Erskine Caldwell.
Highly recommended.

THE KID by Kevin Lewis

2011-09-06T22:54:00.004+01:00

Ever since Dave Pelzer came out with 'A Child Called It' books with various abused themes seem to have filled the bookshelves.
So Kevin Lewis's 'The Kid' wouldn't have normally caught my attention. What set it apart from other books (at first) was that it was set in King Henry's Drive in the New Addington area of Croydon (South London). This was right on my doorstep.
Kevin Lewis suffered a childhood that was punctuated with violent assaults on him by his mother while his father hid in the kitchen listening to Elvis and drinking himself into oblivion.
Little wonder, then, that Kevin wet himself - and got beaten for it. Not just by his mother but by the school bullies. Still Kevin's mother was clever for she never marked his face and if anyone asked about the bruises on other parts of his body she had the ready explanation that Kevin was a clumsy kid who was always falling over.
Still the day came when Kevin had his head split open and then, and only then, did Social Services act.
For two years Kevin found peace in a children's home. The bed wetting stopped and he began to live a normal life. Guess what - Social Services sent him back home to live with his parents. Of course, Kevin's life returned to one of daily beatings. Social Services were still monitoring the situation but Kevin's mother knew, in advance, when they were coming which gave her time to allow Kevin's bruises to fade.
I could go on more in the same vein but Kevin, eventually, fights back. He has big ideas and finds himself placed with a family who encouraged him in his dreams. Unfortunately, his new family (who do show him love and affection) do not know how far he will go to realise his dreams. Not all of it is honest but after all he has gone through who can really blame him.
Then he meets his future wife, Jackie, who has to be a strong influence in his life. In fact this book was written for her so that she would understand him.

'The Kid' is not an easy read. Through a touch of luck Kevin Lewis did not go the way of Baby P or Victoria Colombierre. If Kevin was neglected by his parents then he was, also, neglected by Social Services.
At the end of 'The Kid Moves On' he says that he thinks that Social Services should be given a chance. Sorry, Social Services is not fit for purpose. They can go into court, say what they like and the Judge believes what they say. There are more kids in care today that need not be there while those that are in real need of the Social Services care are neglected.
More often than not Social Services, just as they did with Kevin Lewis, ask the abused child if they want to stay with their family in front of their abuser. What else is the child going to say? Kevin Lewis knew that if he asked to be taken away his mother would have beaten him up.

'The Kid' has been made into a movie and filmed in various locations around Croydon.
Although a good movie that sticks to the basics of the abuse it becomes apparent that the second half of the story veers away from the original.

Still the one thing that I noticed is that Croydon Social Services as depicted in the book is no different today.

JURY RIGGED (a short story)

2011-08-15T00:08:00.002+01:00

JURY RIGGED

Juries – twelve good men and true, except these days the female sex are added to the mix.
Juries are never wrong – right? Even if they are wrong they are right.
Tell that to the likes of Timothy Evans or Derek Bentley. Or Ruth Ellis, the last woman to hang, who fed up with domestic abuse killed her abuser and Sally Clark who, after serving four years of her sentence, was found to have not killed any of her children. Winning an appeal did not mend the wound and as a victim of depression she committed suicide.
Tell that to the victims of the rapists, the paedophiles and drug dealers given their freedom.
Give juries their due though. Sometimes it comes down to the prosecution’s witnesses – sure, they swear on the good book to tell the truth but, believe me, it is their version of the truth; the truth as they see it. And, yes, the same goes for the defence. So an impasse and the decision goes to the one who makes the best case.
Jenny Summers was seventeen years old.
Her battered, bruised, naked body was found lying on the rotten remains of a cardboard box at the back of a disused railway station. Nobody cared – not really. She was just another junkie prostitute who had picked up the wrong punter. Forensics did their thing. Detectives sort of detected and made some notes.
Jenny Summers was a nobody – a loser.
At the age of fifteen Jenny had got herself pregnant and gave birth to a little girl. As she was under age the Child Protection team got involved. She found herself surrounded by professionals who heard what she said – but they had already made their minds up. The Social Worker said that Jenny was violent and used that as grounds to remove the child. Truth was that Jenny was guilty of arguing her case. The court believed the Social Worker and the child was removed.
The pain hurt.
Heroin dulled the pain.
Prostitution paid for the pain relief.
The man who was her pimp and the supplier of her drugs was Sam Elder.
Jenny Summers is one of many.
Sam Elder, too, is one of many.
Sam Elder does not see himself as a killer. He sees himself as a kind of Samaritan – and a businessman. Where there is demand he has the supply.
What good is prison to the likes of Sam Elder? Take away his assets – but he has that covered. From prison he can still make deals and profit from his trade.

Well, the jury found Sam Elder not guilty of drug dealing and he walked free.
He stood outside the court with a cocky attitude, a thick cigar between his stubby, gold ringed fingers being congratulated by friends and family. Only when the cops appeared did he take a pause to look at the two head bowed men. Sam Elder laughed at their discomfort.

However, British justice is not always what it seems.
Sam Elder knew he was going to walk free.
He knew because everybody has something to hide.
There are those who have debts. Others who have a bit on the side. Cash that they would rather their partner knew nothing about. Out of a jury of twelve there is the potential for twelve little secrets.
That’s my job. Find their secrets and put the pressure on – just enough to ensure that my ‘client’ walks free.
It’s a living. I enjoy my work – I wouldn’t do it otherwise - doesn’t mean that I like my clients. Fact is I don’t like people full stop.
So there you go I fixed the jury so that Sam Elder walked free.
No regrets. No remorse.
Job done.
Almost.
My mobile bleeps. I check my messages – it’s confirmation that the balance of my fee has been paid. I walk over to Sam Elder. He grins as I slap him on the arm. My hand stays there as we exchange words of congratulations. He’s not sure who I am – we have never met face to face – but he’s convinced I’m a friend.
Friend?
I hate his kind.
These anonymous killers.
Sam Elder collapsed just minutes later. He was dead by the time he reached hospital. Diagnosis – he had died of an overdose of tainted heroin. The same drug that had been sold to and killed Jenny Summers.
An autopsy report will show that a puncture wound has been found in his upper arm.
A police officer strolls over to me. He can’t believe what has happened.
I tell him that it looks like justice was done. What I don’t tell him is that Sam Elder wasn’t the first nor would he be the last.
He grins – back to the station, Sarge?
I nod.

The above was written for the local writer's group that I have just joined.

THE BURNING OF CROYDON

2011-08-12T01:16:00.002+01:00

My daughter is a single parent with two children.
The pictures show the buildings on fire at the junction of London Road, Croydon with St.James Road and Sumner Road. The whole terrace of shops and flats were gutted in the riots.
At first, we were not aware of the problems along London Road as the news footage concentrated on the blaze of the furniture store at Reeves Corner. The store had been trading there for 150 years and, I suppose, a symbol of Croydon with a tram stop being named for it.
For a moment there was a snippet of another building on fire. It looked like the jewellers on the corner of our daughter's road. In fact, it was just that because a few minutes later our granddaughter was on the phone to tell us that everything was on fire. There were people running down the road but they could not see any police.
Despite the fires raging in London Road there was no attempt to evacuate the residential houses that backed on to it. In fact, the residents were told to stay in their homes.
Knowing how vulnerable my daughter was (she has tourettes and her daughter is autistic) my son attempted to go and get her away to safety but was turned back by the police.
The following day he did manage to slip through the cordon and get my daughter and her children to safety.
Luckily, the fires did not reach them and their home is ok. But the psychological scars still remain - it was an experience that they don't want to go through again.

Some time back - I think it may have been on James Reasoner's blog about the movie 'Harry Brown' - I said that the events at the end of the film hadn't yet happened but the time was very close. Seems, in some ways, to be prophetic words as last Sunday those rioting scenes became reality. For a while the streets of Croydon and the rest of London became no-go areas where rioters were allowed to loot.

As my kids say Croydon is not the same anymore.

OF WESTERN THINGS

2011-08-12T00:48:00.002+01:00

I found this poster on a visit to Woodbridge, Suffolk. Needless to say I didn't get to visit the show. But it was good to see the advert on, of all days, Wild West Monday.

Back in 1915 W.Somerset Maugham published a novel called 'Of Human Bondage'. In Chapter 2 the young hero, Philip Carey, was in a drawing room where he had taken three large cushions from the sofa and one each from the armchairs with which he had built a cave where he was hiding from the Red Indians lurking behind the curtains. By placing his ear against the floor he could feel the thunder of buffalo hooves pounding across the prairie.
Within a couple of short paragraphs it reminded me just how far back children played at cowboys and indians.

THE BALLAD OF DELTA ROSE by Jack Martin

2011-07-16T15:47:00.003+01:00

Delta Rose and his partner, Etta James, built up a small ranch together but the urge of wanderlust and the lure of making quick money to give them a life of luxury drew Delta away.
Twenty years later and he returns. The ranch is now prosperous and foreman Steve Carter is firmly in a precarious driving seat. He has high hopes for something to happen between him and Etta but Delta's arrival seems to be about to dash his hopes.
But not all is as it seems. Delta has a problem, a bullet lodged close to his heart put there by an English gambler who accused him of cheating.
Delta is coming home to say sorry and to die.
But he has a son he knows nothing about. Matt James is a bit of a chip off the old block and is on the run for a killing that he didn't do and a robbery that he did. After him is Maxwell King, a powerful rancher, whose money he stole and Sheriff Jake Masters with a posse.
Once again Jack Martin takes his ingredients and turns them into a tasty treat. Incident piles upon incident that gathers speed until justice is seen to be done.
If you haven't read Jack Martin then you have missed a treat.

And there is more from Jack Martin at the Pattinase blog - a link to which can be found in the side panel.

The Ballad of Delta Rose is a Black Horse Western that, officially, comes out at the end of July but can be purchased through the usual outlets.

RAWHIDE

2011-07-11T17:56:00.002+01:00

Every western had an annual and 'Rawhide' was no exception.
They ran from 1959 to 1964 or 5. The one pictured is 1960 and I, also, have the 1961 annual.
Published by Dean & Sons Ltd the stories were written by Bill Pembury with illustrations by Leo Rawlings. These were black and white with either red, orange, green or blue colouring.
The stories reflect the tv series in a way that they could have made for another season in their own right.
The first story 'The Brogan Brothers' has Gil Favor and Rowdy Yates riding into the town of Pittsville to find three drovers to replace a trio of men who have become sick. They are directed, amidst a load of laughter, to a shack at the end of town where three Irish Brogan brothers, Paddy, Pat and Patrick, live. They hire on but are found to be on the idle side except when they want to enjoy a fight.
Determined to make men out of this disruptive trio he makes them ride right swing through the spooky Quanton's Canyon - a place where movement sets up weird echoes that can spook the cattle.
Enough to say that Gil Favor's ploy pays off.

But the annuals did not just tell stories. There were factual stops along the way with practical pieces about the flora and fauna to be found; the difficulties as well as the fun to be had along the trail and (in the 1961 annual) the use of sign language.

Who Bill Pembury was - I don't know except that he did the 'Tenderfoot' (Sugarfoot in the US) annuals.

THE SACRIFICIAL MAN by Ruth Dugdall

2011-06-30T21:02:00.003+01:00

'Man seeks beautiful woman for the journey of a life-time: I will lift mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help. Will you help me to die?'
Alice Mariani reads this on-line advert and begins a chain of events that has ended with her conviction for assisting a suicide.

Cate Austin is the probation officer assigned to the case. Her role is to determine, for the judge, a recommended sentence.

Alice insists that her story is one of misinterpreted love. Cate is, also, faced with the moral dilemma of the loophole between murder and euthenasia.

If only it was simple as that.

The book is not straightforward for as soon as the reader thinks that they know where it is leading, Ruth Dugdall throws a curve to keep you guessing.

Alice Mariani tells her story from the first person point of view while Cate's is in the third person. The flow of the narrative knits it all together. And then there is 'Smith' the man who placed the advert has a moment with his diary. Yet all the 'voices' are distinguishable and individual.

It has been a long time since I have read a book that has left a lasting impression on me. And I am impressed and I liked the touch where the reader finds out a little more about the fate of Rose Wilks who appeared in Ruth Dugdall's previous novel 'The Woman Before Me'.

Although this book is set in the English county of Suffolk, the story and the issues that it raises are universal. The characters are real and three dimensional - they walk among us.

'The Sacrificial Man' is a must read novel.

For a short time only this book, published by Legend Press, is available from Amazon for £4 - grab it while you can.

SLAP BOOKLEATHER: A Western Site Worth A Visit

2011-06-20T00:12:00.003+01:00

Just discovered this interesting site.
Western orientated with reviews of books, comics and movies as well as nostalgia on the age of TV westerns.

There is a link in the side panel or go to http://slapbookleather.blogspot.com

THE LAST RITES OF RANSOM PRIDE

2011-06-17T13:00:00.003+01:00

This 2009 western movie was written by singer/songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard and director Tiller Russell.
It boasts quite a cast list with Kris Kristofferson, Lizzie Caplan, Dwight Yoakham, Cote de Pablo and Scott Speedman.

The story is a good one. Juliette Flowers (Caplan) decides to bring her lover's, Ranson Pride (Speedman)body back to bury him at his mother's side. A thought that does not sit well with his shady father, Reverend Pride (Yoakham). Old friend Kris Kristofferson sends a couple of hired guns to stop Juliette who has enlisted the help of Ransom's brother Champ (Jon Foster).
Ransom's body is held for - er - ransom by a witch, Bruja (Cote de Pablo)who sends out her own minions to stop Juliette.
Along the way Juliette and Champ forge a relationship. They meet an array of characters who come to their aid. A dwarf weilding a pair of sawn down shotguns, Siamese twins and a portly, army sergeant.

With a good, strong cast and a storyline that should have put a good western into the mainstream, I should be rooting for it.
The constant flash one frame replays of the key gunfights, fast forward motion from day to night, and the jerky opening credits - all in all should contain a health warning for anyone likely to experience an epileptic fit. Much of the 78 minute running time is unwatchable. And there are other things like Ransom Pride's modern gun, the army sergeants motorcycle and sidecar, and the Reverend's motor car (ok, this I can take as steam cars existed back then but still looked out of place).

In one breath this movie goes from good to bad and made ugly by the cinematography.

CHAP O'KEEFE RESPONDS TO 'INTO THE VOID'

2011-06-15T22:42:00.006+01:00

The last article 'Into The Void' was about the impersonal world of the e-book. No first editions. No more having to attend book signings. In fact no face to face interaction with the reading public.
In response BHW writer Chap O'Keefe, who has just released a new e-book version of 'The Sheriff And The Widow', had the following to say:

Your post "A Kind of Void" last Sunday covered the aesthetic side of the ebooks v. print books debate perfectly for me. The commercial side, of course, is something else. Ebooks will be available for ever; no more going out of print ... or so we are told. And no longer will publishers' employees be "gatekeepers", determining what should or should not be read. Authors/would-be authors can easily put their books before the public, who will become their own gatekeepers. But how will the public find what it wants, and what it collectively considers worth buying, when the choice already runs into tens of thousands of titles? The answer so far seems to be that they will be led like sheep through the Internet fields of social networking by authors who spend as much time on marketing as they do on writing books. Some ebook authors have no talent or liking for such promotion. Others are very good at it, and it appears to ensure their by no means exceptional books top various sales charts. Will writing genre fiction return to mild profitability? Perhaps, for the few successful self-promoters. The experts in blogging, twittering and facebooking will lead their followers like pied pipers to the right places in the ebook retailers' ever-lengthening lists. For authors who choose to rely on a professional publisher, I'm not so sure. The other day I was approached with an invitation by a UK publisher planning a new Western line (ebook and print). Their offer was 25% of the 70% or 50% of the download price that they would receive from a retailer (e.g. Amazon). Authors can, of course, collect the full 70% for themselves alone, if they self-publish. But to do this effectively, they have to provide their own covers, formatting and promotion. It doesn't follow that someone who writes a good book can do all these things well, or vice versa. For an author, the ultimate question to a publisher launching into what has quickly become the fiercely competitive ebook scene is: "Does your company have the ability to sell four times more downloads than an author working on his own?" At this stage of the game, publishers can only answer that one speculatively. Can I add a brief plug to this? A couple of weeks ago I prepared a new cover and reissued my 1994 Black Horse western The Sheriff and the Widow as a 99c (69p) Kindle ebook. Two other O'Keefe titles are also available, all languishing somewhere up the Amazon where only typing the right enquiry into a search box will allow a reader to come across them.

A KIND OF VOID: The Impersonal World Of The e-Book

2011-06-12T13:54:00.005+01:00

Two things happened recently that gave me pause for thought.
The first was one of those peculiar twists of fate where I discovered that I lived just seven miles from an old classmate. We had a brilliant reunion going through the school register of our mind and recalling the teachers. As he was leaving he caught sight of one of my bookcases and said the usual 'Oh! My God, I remember that.' Well, yeah it was one of those that went around the class.

The second was just sitting in the high street waiting for the wife. I had a bag of books and I took time out to read the back cover and the potted bio of the author.

On the other hand I had a couple of e-books but apart from a link to the authors themselves. I knew the writers but what about those that I've never met? There is something impersonal there. Holding a book, smelling either a newness or the warm scent of something well read, is missing from the download.

Now there are those who will offer and opposing arguement and this is not an anti arguement. It's just that the pro and anti lobby miss a fundamental point and that is that both print and download can co-exist. I think that it is essential.

Why?

I have books in a bookcase because I am a collector (and a hoarder).
Being a collector has an importance in the world of books. Where, then, can I find a first edition of Tony Masero's first novel 'The Riflemen'? In years to come it will be lost in the void - maybe, even forgotten. No one will remember that the author was the man who, as an artist, gave Edge his face or Tupelo Gold her sexuality. I know this but will the generations to come?
In a way electronic publishing is dismissing and disposing of the first edition as though such a thing has no place in the literary world.

Readers, like those who enthuse about music and movies live in a visual world. They need something that touches all the senses. Maybe, that is why kids today tend to turn to the video games where there is a kind of reality that they can identify with.

Without a balance between e-books and real books many authors will just disappear into a digital void.

RIDERS OF THE RANGE

2011-06-08T23:08:00.003+01:00

In 1949 the BBC made a serious attempt to bring a British western series to radio. This was the brainchild of Charles Chilton was would be instumental in creating 90 episodes spread over six series that ran from 1949 to 1953.
Using actual documents and diaries of the time Charles Chilton created a real world for Jeff Arnold (Paul Carpenter), the old timer Luke (Charles Irwin) and the daughter of the owner of the 6T6 Ranch, Mary,(Corrine Carr)and the dog 'Rustler' to inhabit.
The series covered the opening of the Chisholm Trail and the building of the Atcheson,Topeka and Santa Fe and the Union Pacific Railroads. Real characters turned up like Billy The Kid and Jesse James.
As a jazz musician himself, Charles Chilton knew the value of music and the series contained musical interludes.
In 1950 the Eagle comic approached the BBC for permission to create a comic strip version of 'Riders Of The Range'. Charles Chilton became involved with the stories for the strips and remained with there until the early sixties.
During the years of involvement with this series Charles Chilton became something of an authority on the history of the west. In 1961 he published a book called 'The Book Of The West' that won him the 1963 Western Heritage Award For Juvenile Books.
Unfortunately, none of the radio episodes exist today but I heard most of them when I was a child.
When the radio series of 'Riders Of The Range' ended in September 1953 Charles Chilton already had something new to take its place. He would take us forward to November, 1965 with a new hero, Jet Morgan, who would take us on a 'Journey Into Space'.

BUZZARD POINT by Caleb Rand

2011-06-06T13:07:00.002+01:00

After shooting his best friend Jesse Tripp is forced to go on the run.
Two years later Jesse escapes from an irate husband and climbs aboard a cattle truck. Events that set him on a reluctant return to his home in Wickett, Texas.
Here he learns that his father is dead and that he has a son by one of the servants. His brother has taken over the ranch which has grown in size and married Jesse's girlfriend Holly.
Jesse has to weigh up whether to find out what lay behind his father's death or just move on. However the law, in the shape of a devious sheriff Turgoose, makes his mind up for him.
Through all the twists and turns of this story where not all is as it seems Jesse Tripp comes close to death before unravelling family secrets.

Caleb Rand has written yet another good page turner full of characters and a plot that keeps the reader hooked.
Buzzard Point is published by Robert Hale's Black Horse Western brand and is due for publication on 30th June.

WESTERN NEWS

2011-06-05T18:46:00.003+01:00

DEATH OF JAMES ARNESS

For many years James Arness thrilled western fans as Marshal Matt Dillon in the series 'Gunsmoke'. Sadly, on the 3rd June at the age of 88.
He will never be forgotten.

PHIL COLLINS AT THE ALAMO

Yes, the Genesis singer/drummer is rumoured to be writing about the Battle Of The Alamo. He says that he has a connection to this part of Texas as he has been told that in a former life he was a Texan courier who survived the massacre.
Well, I don't know if that last bit is true but I seem to recall that in the movie the Texan courier was played by a singer - Frankie Avalon.

GLOBAL E-BOOK AWARDS

'Tis the season for Award ceremonies and the latest appears to be the Global e-Book Awards sponsored by Dan Poynter.
Though there seems to be a problem - there is no category for westerns.
Charles Whipple (aka Western writer Chuck Tyrrell) approached one of the men in charge, Joseph Dowdy, who said that no one had thought of a category but that he would go and talk to Dan about it. And, of course, there would have to be a panel of judges.
As long as there are companies committed to bringing the western out in e-book form like George G. Gilman's 'Edge:The Loner' and Chuck Tyrell's 'The Snake Den'; and Robert Hale who have re-published four Black Horse Western titles in e-book form - then there should be support for this category.
So check out http://awardsforebooks.com and help make a case for the western.

L.A.NOIRE

2011-05-21T16:56:00.003+01:00

If ever there was an arguement for getting a games console then this is a good one.
L.A.Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947 - and a lot of work has been done to re-create the downtown area of the Los Angeles of the period.

The creators are Rockstar, the company behind Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption. This time it is the Australian branch, Team Bondi, behind this game that has a true sense of period.
There are excerpts from radio programmes of the day that include Jack Benny at his best. A soundtrack that boasts Lionel Hampton, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington and a 'Pistol Packin' Mama' from Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters - there has to be a sountrack album.
This is the noir of Bogart, Cagney and Robinson with a dash of Greenstreet and Lorre neatly packaged for a modern audience in the same way that they did with 'Red Dead Redemption'.
Storyline is simple - through a graphic back story you get the feeling that Patrolman Cole Phelps has issues resulting from his actions in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War and lies behind his reasons for joining the L.A.P.D.
Starting as a patrolman the idea is that Phelps climbs the ladder until he becomes a fully fledged detective. This is done via police chases and shootouts that are not as groanworthy as you would think. There is, also, the investigative procedure. This is puzzle solving at its best for crimes have to be solved to make progress.

This is by far the longest game that I have encountered - three discs compared to the usually one - such is the complex nature of both the storylines and the side quests.
This is not a game for kids - not those looking to shoot everything in sight or demolish vehicles and pedestrians in their path. This is very much the game for grown ups or for those who can take the time to think things through.
I would like to see this as another success for Rockstar but I do have reservations based more on the modern trend towards violent online gaming.

THE WIDOW MAKER by Lance Howard

2011-05-20T18:28:00.002+01:00

Published 1997 - Black Horse Western.

This was the second Black Horse Western that I read.
The Widow Maker is Brace Carrigan, a one eyed outlaw who leads a gang of women. The toothless Shale, the big Bertha, Mexican triplets April, May and June with the bookish Calamity Annie with her mousy look and wire framed glasses make up the gang and they all lack a love of men.
And that is what the gang leaves behind - widows. But all this dates back to Carrigan's childhood and a bullying father who killed Brace's mother. Even when his life is threatened by a woman he cannot bring himself to kill her.
And that threat is real.
For, after being wounded in a gold robbery, he kills the doctor who tends to his wound. This leaves his Chinese 'partner', Sarah, alone with her grief.
The gang has become the target of bounty hunter Steve Matthews. This is his last hunt as he intends to find himself some land and marry a girl called Elena.
On the trail he becomes aware of a crow and the half breed hunter wonders if he has a spirit guide. This as he is attacked and wounded by a bunch of renegade Indians.
With approaching delerium and following the spirit guide he reaches Sarah's home. As she tends Steve's wounds he drifts into a spirit world where nothing seems to make sense.
It is only when he recovers that he and Sarah join together to bring an end to the Widow Gang.

Like all good books it is not just figuring that you know the ending but the journey to get there. Lance Howard brings his characters to life. Although there can be some empathy with Brace Carrigan's childhood there is no sympathy for the man he has become.
And Steve coming to terms with strange dreams and their meaning rings true. Though I could not help but think that, maybe, there was a tip of the hat to the comic book hero 'The Crow'.
Even so 'The Widow Maker' is a very good read both for those who want to read their first western and for those looking for a starter by this author.

Lance Howard has written 30 westerns and in the last four months has had another four novels accepted for publication.

OPEN RANGE - The Return

2011-05-15T13:29:00.001+01:00

The OPEN RANGE blog is back in business. It has kicked off with Matthew Reilly's 'Scarecrow' and Robin Douglas-Home's 'Hot For Certainties'.

Open Range is where forgotten as well as new books can be found along with music and films.

Broken Trails will remain western rooted

THE SHIP INN, LEVINGTON, SUFFOLK

2011-05-05T23:06:00.002+01:00

Now I'm not putting myself up as a food critic but I have to admit that The Ship Inn provided my wife and I with a smashing meal at lunchtime today.
We had pan fried rainbow trout with creamy, buttery mashed potato and spinach.
Evidently, the menu changes from time to time but on the evidence anyone who stops off here are in for a treat.
The thatched roofed inn dates back to the 13th Century and has a wonderful warm atmosphere.
The Ship Inn is just outside of Ipswich and off the A1156.

THE SECRET OF DEVIL'S CANYON by I J Parnham

2011-04-28T11:27:00.003+01:00

I love the cover to this book as it reminds me of the old pulps and Jeff Arnold and The Riders Of The Range Annuals.

The Secret Of Devil's Canyon has Nathaniel McBain and Shackleton Frost escorting convicted killer Cooper Metcalf to the Bear Creek pen. Of course, the prisoner protests that he is innocent - and maybe he is but Mayor Maxwell is dead and his daughter, Narcissa, is missing believed killed. On the evidence alone it looks as though Metcalf is guilty as hell.
Then there is Deputy Albright (who doesn't live up to his name) and his posse who want to see justice done. He wants the killer to hang but not before he has confessed to what he has done with Narcissa's body.
So...the chase is on through the labyrinth that is Devil's Canyon.
Joining the fray is Jim Dragon, an expert bone collector who is having a private war with bone thief Paul Dulaine (two characters who deserve a book of their own). Also, Emily Seymour who is not exactly on the level but saves Metcalf with a wild ride down a forty five degree canyon wall.
And the secret....it's all in the bones of the story.
I J Parnham delivers another great tale featuring Nathaniel McBain, a recurring character, along with a host of new and interesting characters.
This book is a Black Horse Western from Robert Hale Ltd and is already available from the usual outlets.

Nor is there a long wait for the next book from this author as the next BHW from I J Parnham, 'The Prairie Man' comes out on the 31st August 2011.

A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS at BOOK LIFE

2011-04-28T02:25:00.001+01:00

Several authors who contributed to the Express Western's anthology 'A Fistful Of Legends' have been talking to Book Life (www.booklifenow.com) about the west. Among the contributors are Matthew P. Mayo, Ross Morton, Charles Whipple, Alfred Wallon, C. Courteney Joyner and me.
This is a 3 part series of articles where everything is so neatly spliced together to produce a whole that is both enlightening and insightful

ALONG THE WESTERN TRAIL

2011-04-28T01:24:00.002+01:00

At long last the Wild West Monday initiative seems to be paying dividends. Black Horse Westerns along with other western titles have their own section in the Waterstones bookshops.
Not just western fiction as their non-fiction has some good titles amongst which was James Reasoner's 'Draw' and Dan Rottenberg's 'Death Of A Gunfighter' - the quest for Jack Slade the west's most elusive legend.
W.H.Smith seem to be dragging their heels but a three novel omnibus by Zane Grey was spotted in their Croydon store.

Chap O'Keefe is letting Misfit Lil loose on the e-book market. This series has a female lead and is worth taking the time out to read.

PRISONER OF WAR LIBRARY

2011-04-14T01:06:00.003+01:00

This comes from a 1942 edition of 'Good Housekeeping'.
'CHOOSING A PRISONER OF WAR LIBRARY' by Jeanne Heal
It had been the author's job for several months to arrange parcels of books for the officers and men who were being held as p.o.w. The most frequently asked questions were just what kind of books did these men want to read.
"For the men I'd put blood and thunder Westerns first," writes Jean Heal before adding thrillers and light fiction.

The full article is included in a book called 'The Home Front: The Best of Good Housekeeping 1939 - 1945'. A book that includes contributions from C.S.Forester, Lloyd George, John Steinbeck and Daphne Du Maurier

THE WARRIOR'S WAY

2011-04-07T23:02:00.002+01:00

Yang (Jang Dong Gun)is a warrior charged with ending a feud with a rival clan. However, the last enemy is just a baby and he refuses to make the killing blow. As a fugitive from the clan, Yang makes his way to the American west - to the town of Lode that is inhabited by circus folk. Here he befriends Lynne (Kate Bosworth)and together they open up a laundry and bring up the baby between them.
The clan are not behind waiting to hear the sound of Yang's singing sword.
Come Christmas and The Colonel (Danny Huston)arrives with his gang. There is history between The Colonel and Lynne for it was she who left him disfigured and he now wears a leather mask.
Yang wades in and the sword begins to sing.
At the same time the town drunk, Ron (Geoffrey Rush) decides to sober up and dig up his rifle. Outlaws and townspeople have to team up as the clans attack in what is a climatic bloodbath. Lynne has her showdown with the Colonel and Yang faces his mentor.
Not a great film but a good marriage of East and West with some brilliant set pieces. A sword practice to 'The Sailor's Hornpipe' is an instance that comes to mind. This is not a film to be taken seriously - it is pure fantasy and fun.

CRUCIFIED BARBARA

2011-04-06T02:09:00.003+01:00

Back in 1998 four young ladies in Stockholm, Sweden got together to form a punk rock band. By 2004, though, they had found their true calling in the world of heavy metal.
They are Mia 'Coldheart' Karlsson - guitar and lead vocals; Klara 'Force' Ronnqvist Fors - Guitar and Backing Vocals; Ida 'Evileye' Stenbach on Bass and drummer Jannicke 'Nicki Wicked' Lindstrom.
As a vocalist Mia Coldheart can kick ass and knows how to do it soft. Check out songs like Play Me Hard, My Heart Is Black or Bad Hangover on YouTube.
To date there have only been two albums - 'Til Death Do Us Party' and 'In Distortion We Trust'. It was from this latter album that they released their debut single 'Losing The Game' that peaked at no 8 on the Swedish charts.
Though they have, for the most part, toured in Europe and Scandinavia they did a gig with 'Motorhead' down in Folkestone, Kent and, later, recorded 'Killed By Death' on a Motorhead tribute album.
They are, currently, working on their third album.
For those with a liking for Heavy Metal then this all girl group is worth checking out.

STARPACKER by David Whitehead

2011-04-04T20:55:00.002+01:00

This book is a 1990 edition from the Black Horse Western brand.

Tom Hunter has served just half of a 10 year sentence at Yuma for the theft of silver bullion and the murder of a stage driver and the guard.
As it comes clear Hunter was framed and his arrival in the town of Carver is no accident. They want a town marshall and he sees that as a way to bring the true criminal to justice. Only when the confrontation arrives does Hunter realise how naive he had been.
Trouble is that his adversary, Jason Birchell, not only has an interest in the local paper but is a powerful man around town. A man who will use any means possible to discredit and kill his nemesis.
David Whitehead weaves his web and keeps the reader hooked to the end.
For anyone looking to read their first western then this book would fit the bill.
Look out for the Judge and Dury series and the Heller novels from this writer, too.

RAWHIDE

2011-03-29T23:32:00.002+01:00

Series 1 of the western tv series that shot Clint Eastwood onto the world stage is already available.

Series 2 will be released on Region 2 on the 4th April 2011

Series 3 will be released 11th July 2011

HOMEFRONT:THE VOICE OF FREEDOM by John Milius and Raymond Benson

2011-03-26T22:32:00.003Z

Between them John Milius (Apocalypse Now) and Raymond Benson (James Bond novelisations) have created a frightening future.
The main storyline begins in 2025 and concerns a disillussioned journalist, Ben Walker, and a Korean 'sleeper' Yi Dae-Hyan aka Salmusa.
The USA has lost it's way. The recession and the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns have weakened the economy and the standing on the world stage has diminished.
The Middle East is in flames and the cost of oil has become prohibitive.
In Asia, there is a leadership change in Korea. The leader is charismatic enough to engineer a re-unification with South Korea. The Philipines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam join in to become part of the Greater Korean Republic. Japan doesn't get the choice but that is just a step away from the ultimate plan.
Rich and powerful the GKR has the weakened America in it's sights.
In the US the man who will co-ordinate the invasion works as an electrician in San Francisco - but it is Salmusa who sends out the first wave as the metros in 12 cities are bombed simultaneously.
Ben Walker, the journalist, is tired. He is just a hack who covers celebrity lives. Certainly, not a hero. He knows what the world is like but as long as he can run his BSA motorbike and have a Jack Daniels he is happy.
Then the lights go out....and his journey to become The Voice Of Freedom begins.
Milius and Benson have written a captivating book. The build up is believable and Ben Walker is in the dark as to what is happening. In a world of chaos he meets up with the resistance. Of course, Salmusa is the man given the sole task of gagging the voice of freedom. The climax leaves the reader wanting more.

And this is only the beginning as John Milius has brought many of the characters from the book to a videogame 'Homefront' that is set in 2027.
All this has resulted in some controversy. It is said that the game from THQ and Kaos will not be available in South Korea. The Japanese version has no references to Korea or the leadership.
The premise isn't new I seem to recall back in the sixties that had the Chinese invading Britain. I can't remember the title as it was one of many at the time of similar ilk.
Still....Homefront 2: London is on the cards.

THE TRAIL RESUMES......

2011-03-17T01:11:00.002Z

with a pic from the window of our new home.

GOING WALKABOUT

2011-02-22T01:25:00.002Z

As things come together - so the wife and I are going to up sticks and move to healthier climes.
As soon as I stood at the window and saw the sea rushing in I knew that this was the place for me. Being a writer I could have written that sentence a touch better but you get the jist.
The view from the main bedroom window is just as good. So if I get a touch of insomnia then, maybe, the moon on the water will give me a Pink Floyd moment.
Unfortunately, the cost of all this luxury will be the snail like internet connection that comes with it. Seems that fibre-optic cable haven't reached these parts. I have a fibre optic Christmas tree but Virgin Media mentioned that it would not help with my problem.
Mind you Christmas Day looks rather fun as all the locals turn into lemmings and charge headlong into the sea. They do this despite the icy conditions and, somehow, seem to survive.
The best place to fish is from the beach. Good excuse to leave the house and spend time out doors reading a BHW while catching dinner.
Be assured that 'Broken Trails' will return.

RON WATKINS - 1930 to 2011

2011-02-04T01:27:00.002Z

It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of fellow Black Horse Western writer Ron Watkins.

Ron began his writing career with detective novels the first being 'Death Draws The Curtain' in 1973.
Ron was born in 1930 and educated at Leominster Grammer school. He worked as a librarian with Rhondda Borough Council rising to the position of Deputy County Librarian with Mid-Glamorgan County Council. He was also a reader for a London publisher and President of the Bridgend Writers Circle.
His first Black Horse Western 'Lowry's Revenge' was published in 1993 and was the first of his novels that I read. The hero was an actor and began with a scene from Shakespeare's 'King Lear'.
With contributions to 'Writing Magazine' and the production of a play 'Sextet' Ron Watkins was always the versatile writer.

Broken Trails sends condolences to Ron's family. His talent is something that will be missed.

BOOK OF THE GAME

2011-02-02T01:24:00.003Z

A while back I thought that the book of the game would be a good idea. Something along the lines of book of the movie sort of thing.
A visit to our local Waterstone's showed shelves lined with novels (not graphic novels though they are around too).
These novelisations are of some of the popular console games around like:
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood plus another couple of titles that precede this.
Gears Of War
Dragon Age
Halo
Dead Space

Rumour has it that there are more novelisations in the pipeline.

BLU-RAY 3D

2011-01-20T14:47:00.005Z

So I ordered a copy of 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' on Blu-Ray in 3D from HMV. A touch expensive but to have the option of watching the movie in 3D didn't cause a problem.
Well, that was until we all sat down to watch the movie.
The 3D option wasn't available - and the reason why is because I do not have a 3D TV and a 3D Blu-Ray disc player.

There was no prior warning for this. The front celophane wrapper said the 3D glasses were required but not included. That wasn't a problem we had plenty of them from various other movies.
There was a slip of paper buried amongst the junk inside the disc case that did explain about the need for the 3D stuff - should have been on the front with the bit about the glasses.
So I telephoned HMV and Steve explained that it was not their policy to explain that extra equipment was needed. In fact HMV, or so Steve said, assumed that the consumer had the equipment. Never mind the Sale Of Goods Act 1979 which, obviously, does not apply to HMV.
Televisions and DVD players with 3D are expensive and, from what I can see, are just not selling. All this is a ploy to make the consumer pay out for something that they don't need to watch a 3D movie. The movies that have gone before like 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' and 'The Final Destination' have played well enough. So why change something that doesn't need changing.
Mind you the 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' disc comes from Sony - don't they make 3D TVs and DVD players?

The moral of the story is don't buy 3D Blu-Ray movies without finding out whether or not they will play on your existing equipment. I should have done that but it doesn't excuse those who should have pointed it out in the first place.

JONAH HEX

2011-01-18T00:52:00.003Z

Yes, well what can I say.
The movie does carry the spirit of the comics and the opening sequences that explain how Hex became disfigured are neatly done.
Anyway, Quentin Turnball (John Malkovich in Cyrus The Virus mode - Con-Air)is the baddie who kills Hex's family and creates the artistry on Jonah's face. Hex (Josh Brolin)becomes a bounty hunter and one who has a bounty on his own head. He has a neat pair of gatling guns on his saddle with which he wipes out a town that has decided not to pay him. Almost a spaghetti western parody.
Anyway to cut an 82 min movie shorter - President Grant offers a pardon to Hex if he can stop a gang from causing mayhem. A gang run by Turnball who had, earlier, faked his own death.
Turnball has a brilliant number two in the shape of a tattooed Irishman called Burke (there is a touch of The Riddler here). Michael Fassbender breathes so much into this character that he stands out.
With the help of the love interest, a prostitute named Lilah (Megan Fox) Hex goes to war in search of a weapon of mass destruction.
As it stands 'Jonah Hex' wasn't disapponting but could have done with some extra scenes just so that characters could really develop. Maybe they will do better with the sequel.

SOME WESTERN TITLES ON eBOOKS

2011-01-18T00:35:00.002Z

Some of Tyrell L. Bowers novels are available on Kindle.

The Secret Of Snake Canyon (original novel published by Walker Westerns)
Ride Against The Wind (original novel published by Walker Westerns)
Armageddon At Gold Butte (original novel published as a Black Horse Western - and original BHW cover shown).

Also released last Friday: Chuck Tyrell's 'The Snake Den'.

But if you prefer books then Terrell L. Bowers latest BHW 'Ambush At Lakota Crossing' is due for release at the end of this month. However, I expect that it is available right now.

MARSHAL OF GUNSIGHT by Elliot Long

2011-01-17T00:44:00.004Z

Does anyone remember the first western that they read?
In this case I will be recording the first four Black Horse Westerns that I read.

Marshal Of Gunsight
by
Elliot Long
published 1991 by Robert Hale Ltd
Black Horse Western.

Tom Callan had worked with some of the best lawmen. He was with Wild Bill Hickok in Abilene, then Bat Masterson in Dodge and, finally, the Earps in Tombstone. Now he was just the Town Marshal in a backwater called Gunsight.
For three years he has not had much to do except twiddle his fingers, play poker with the butcher, Charlie Hannam, and the saloon keeper John Byett.
One snowy day the telegraph sends a message - a couple of small time stage hold-up men are heading his way. Callan knows them so it looks like an easy arrest as it has been in the past. Unfortunately, they kill a man on the way and fearing the rope decide to resist arrest.
The shoot-out has an effect on Tom Callan who fears that his nerve has gone - the killing just does not sit easy with him.
Calming his nerves with a glass of whiskey and a hand of poker - another incident lands in his lap. This time it is a kid on the prod but Blue Marson is quickly disarmed and sent packing. Only this kid isn't used to being insulted and turns around for another go and winds up dead.
Trouble is Blue Morson has a pretty powerful daddy, Jerome Morson, who doesn't take kindly to people killing his boy. And when he and his outfit are run out of town by Callen, Morson is a man fit to explode.
Thinking that he has seen the last of Morson, Callan takes time to help out the County Sheriff but on his return finds that his town is in Morson's hands.

Elliot Long writes a well paced book and creates fine characters. Discovering how Callen deals with his problems adds to the suspense.
Probably one of my best selections on visiting the local library.
Certainly a writer to look out for.
His latest BHW 'Scar County Showdown' is due for release at the end of February 2011.

THE MARK by Charles E Israel

2011-01-15T15:23:00.002Z

THE MARK
by
Charles E. Israel (b.1920 Indiana, USA - d.1999)
Published by MacMillan in 1958 and Pan Books 1961.

I first read this book when it was a pristine straight off the shelf paperback in 1961. I didn't have a clue as to what the book was about. The blurb on the back just stated "Here is an adult novel that demands to be read.....a masterpiece of suspense that makes every word count."
Not enough for a young teenager to guess at what the book was about.
Still the best way to find out was to start at Chapter 1.
Jim Fuller (the hero) is in a diner. He's a touch nervous as he has to go see a room that he wants to rent and then go on to a job interview. He is nothing special, just an accountant looking to relocate but the blonde waitress hovering around him increases his tension.
By the time he gets to the Cartwright house where he intends to rent a room he is a little more settled. He likes the room but not the 'Blue Boy' painting on the wall - that brings back memories and not all of them good. When he meets Arnold Cartwright, the landlady's husband, Arnold thinks that he recognises Jim from somewhere.
It is not until he gets to his job interview with Mr. Clive of Clive Industries that the reader discovers that Jim Fuller has spent the last five years of his life in the Pen.
As Mr. Clive doesn't ask the important question Jim Fuller does not tell anyone what he was inside for.
But you should have worked it out by the time he meets up with his shrink, McNally, in Chapter six.
This is a dark book that is pieced by rays of hope. Each revelation comes as each layer of the story is uncovered. But just as you reach the point where all looks well for Jim and his relationship with secretary, Ruth Leighton, his world comes crashing down to reality.
There is no escape - or so it seems.
This is a book about abuse - and the victims - but told without sensationalism.
Fifty years on the subject matter is as relevent today as it was when this book was first written.

Stuart Whitman was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Jim Fuller in the movie of the book. The film also starred Maria Schell and Rod Steiger.

TRIVIA

2011-01-10T23:47:00.003Z

Something with an odd twist to it. Alexander FLEMING House in London's Elephant & Castle area was designed by an architect named GOLDFINGER.

Chiswick Auctions, London: A Frederick Remmington bronze 'Comin' Thru The Rye' sold for £230.
It was admired by actor Brian Murphy (of 'George & Mildred' fame) who is very enthusiastic about westerns. He has the ambition still to appear in a western - maybe, 'The Tarnished Star'?

WILD WEST eMONDAY

2011-01-04T12:28:00.004Z

Well, what a day over at The Tainted Archive blog where, once again, the emphasis was on the awareness of the western genre in general and to promote the ebook - even encouraged to buy one or take up the offer of a freebie by Joanne Walpole 'Raven Dove'.
I did buy some westerns yesterday notably Herne The Hunter 22: Wild Blood so that I now have the complete set. Not an ebook, though, as this series has yet to be included.
Still I enjoyed the day that had a piece by several Black Horse Western writers like Chap O'Keefe. Charles Whipple (aka Chuck Tyrell) on how ancestry, childhood and a town can influence a writer. An interview with Chris Scott Wilson and Edge creator George G. Gilman.
But the highlight for me had to be Edward A. Grainger's short story 'Melanie'. This was a tight taut story about child abuse and featured Cash Laramie (who made his debut in the Express Westerns anthology 'A Fistful Of Legends'). It is a story that could be told today and underlines just how much nothing has changed over the centuries. I very much hope that this story will appear in the proposed Cash Laramie anthology.

In some respects I think that ebook readers are a gadget too many. On the other hand if it gets people back into the habit of reading it has to be a good thing. As Chris Scott Wilson says in his interview at least this way an author's book will never go out of print.
I have downloaded some books - the last six Edge books that are only available this way. But I do find that this way of reading a book a touch impersonal. Nor, having read a book, can I toss it over to my wife or one of my children.
I have another objection to ebooks. There is a certain book out there that I would like to read but it doesn't matter where I go I can either buy a Kindle version or get the message 'Download now'. That sounds like a dictatorship to me - I can only read a book if I download it. If that is the sound of the future then there are a lot of people who may well miss out on a good book. Surely, unless I am missing something, there should be a paperback book option.

Still Wild West eMonday has weaved the magic again and flown the flag for the western. And that is all that matters.

ARROWHEAD by Paul Kane

2011-01-03T00:19:00.003Z

Arrowhead by Paul Kane was first published by Abaddon Books in 2008.

As part of the Afterblight Chronicles this is another story where the world has been wiped out by a virus with the exception of those with O Neg blood.

The book opens with the torture of Thomas Hinckerman who has arrived in Calais with two friends Gary and Dan via the Channel Tunnel. Here they meet a bunch of mercenaries led by the power hungry and sadistic De Falaise. Upon discovering the situation in Britain the Frenchman sees a way to seize power.
Meanwhile, across the Channel ex-policeman Robert Stokes is watching his wife and son die of the virus. This contains some very harrowing descriptive writing. As Robert Stokes waits to die he becomes a hermit in the woods near Nottingham (where he lives).
But slowly he comes to realise that the virus has passed him by and he begins to live off the land. He makes his own bow and arrow with which he practises until he can hunt for his food.
While all this is happening De Falaise is creating an army who, on hearing of a certain myth and legend decides to set up camp in Nottingham Castle and declare himself as the new High Sheriff of Nottingham.
Ah, thinks 'Survivors' meets Robin Hood.
Yes, that's what I thought - but there is more to this tale than just that. Sure there is the Reverend Tate (Friar Tuck), Jack 'The Hammer' Finlayson (Little John) and Mary Louise (Maid Marion) who bursts onto the scene with a pair of replica Peacemakers.
This take was one of the best that I've read in a long time and has the kind of pace that keeps the reader in touch with the characters through all the twists and turns.
There are two sequels in this series - 'Broken Arrow' and the just released 'Arrowland'.

One thing did leave me a little bemused and it must be a coincidence - De Falaise picks up some of his army in FINCHLEY, Mary Louise's surname is FOSTER and she has a pair of PEACEMAKERS (westerns). See where I'm coming from?

BLACK HAND GANG by Pat Kelleher

2011-01-02T08:41:00.003Z

'Black Hand Gang' is the first novel in a series created by Pat Kelleher under the collective name of 'No Man's World'.

It is The Somme, France 1916 and the men of the 13th Battalion of The Pennine Fusiliers are preparing for an assault on the German lines at Harcourt Wood. The assault is destined to take place on the 1st November but when they go over the top the world has changed.
The muddy expanse of their lines and the cratered no man's land is there but is a blot on an otherwise perfect landscape.
How did they get there?
Well, nobody knows but as the story unfolds there are dark occult forces at work. It is one of their own who is looking for the same thing as Aleister Crowley - to become The Great Snake. Although this character makes fleeting appearances Lieutenant Jefferies makes his presence felt.
Still the gallant troops have other things to contend with like a pack of giant hyenas and meat eating worms that have no respect for trench defences.
Along with the Pennines are three nurses, a Sopwith bi-plane and pilot, and an ironclad.
A patrol is sent out and discover a human tribe called Urmans who, in turn, introduce our heroes to the insect rulers of this world the Khungarrii.

Pat Kelleher gives a good account of trench life and the reader feels the shock and awe as the Pennines face the new world and it's perils. And the main character of Tommy Atkins is finely drawn as an almost reluctant hero.
The blurb on the back has a final description that suggests that this is like the old pulp science fiction adventures and it does have that feel to it.

The next book in the series 'Ironclad Prophesy' is out during July, 2011.

'Black Hand Gang' is published by Abaddon Books at £7.99 (available in the US at $9.99)

ABADDON BOOKS

2011-01-01T14:10:00.002Z

Back in 2000 Rebellion took over the comic 2000AD.
Seeing an opportunity to expand they opened up an independant book imprint with 2000AD's graphic novels editor, Jonathan Oliver, taking the reins.
The first novel appeared in 2006 and over the last few years have published a fistful of titles. Amongst which are 'The Afterblight Chronicles' that includes a trilogy of novels by Scott Andrews (previously reviewed) and another from Paul Kane.
There is sword and sorcery tales under the collective title of 'Twilight Of Kerebos':
steampunk tales under the title 'Pax Brittania' and the gory zombie stomping world of 'Tomes Of The Dead'.
And now Pat Kelleher's 'No Man's World' series that kicks off with 'Black Hand Gang'.
Despite being around since 2006 it is only in recent months that these books have found their way onto the shelves of a book shop near me.
To me these books have that connection to the old days of 2000AD - in that they could so easily come in graphic form. But it is 2000AD for adults.
Well, Broken Trails will be reviewing Pat Kelleher's 'Black Hand Gang' and Paul Kane's 'Arrowhead' shortly.
If you want to know more about the books, authors and e-books go to www.abaddonbooks.com

NO MAN'S WORLD

2010-12-24T01:24:00.004Z

I know I wasn't going to blog again until 2011 - but this has to be seen to be believed.
I bought a book called 'Black Hand Gang' by Pat Kelleher (you'll have to wait for the full review).
The premise is that the 13th Battalion of The Pennine Fusiliers disappeared from the Somme battlefield on 1st November 1916. The preface to the book sounds very convincing and, of course, a total fiction as it tries to show that the story is based on fact.
To cap it all is a splendid way to advertise the book and perpetuate the myth is the No Man's World blog (http://nomansworldblog.blogspot.com).
Mind you a quick search of the net does throw up someone who believes - well, like they say one born etc.
Personally, I just think that it is an excellent way to publicise a book and pave the way for a sequel.

NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO

2010-12-21T18:22:00.002Z

It hasn't been a bad year but the last few months have thrown up some surprises with the result that much that I would have liked to have written about never happened.
Amongst the things that should have made an appearance are reviews of the latest Black Horse Westerns by Charles Whipple, I.J.Parnham, Terry James and Derek Rutherford - all excellent writers.
Beat To A Pulp: Round One, an excellent anthology editted by David Cranmer and Elaine Ash was something else that I missed, especially as it contained a fine selection of short stories by people that I have gotten to know.

Movie wise - try and catch the original Swedish movie 'Let The Right One In' before watching the Hollywood re-make 'Let Me In'. It is quite a beautiful film considering that this is a vampire movie based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The book is also excellent.

Discovered the complete tv series of Stephen King's 'The Stand'. I don't recall seeing this before but I watched it as a whole.

Still to watch - but then I was saving these for the Christmas holidays - 'Rawhide' Season 1 consisting 22 episodes of a series that would catapult Clint Eastwood onto the road to stardom.
And the complete tv series 'Colditz'.

Anyway, Broken Trails will take time out until 2011.
Allow time for the dust to settle and life to get back to some form of normality.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

TAKE THE WAR TO WASHINGTON

2010-12-17T10:51:00.003Z

I wonder if anyone remembers a British author Peter Van Greenaway.
During the the sixties, seventies and eighties he was quite a popular author both as a novelist and short story writer.
In 1974 he wrote a novel called 'Take The War To Washington'. The novel concerned a group of Vietnam veterens who feeling sidelined and neglected by the country that sent them to war decide to take that very war to Washington.
Well they set the ball rolling by crashing a passenger plane into the Pentagon before setting out to attack the tallest buildings.
A surprising plotline in a forgotten book by a forgotten author about a forgotten army.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY........

2010-12-03T16:25:00.003Z

So England won't be hosting the 2018 World Cup. In some ways I'm quite happy that World Cup is going to Russia - the games have never been held there.
But...FIFA's excuse for England not winning the bid is down to the British Media and the BBC Panorama programme for their allegations of corruption within FIFA.
Hmm?
Seems to me, now, that something might just be wrong when people say one thing and do another.

Unlike another guilty party, David Chaytor, the MP who said that he had done nothing wrong in the expenses scandal - at least he has now held his hands and pleaded guilty.

If you do wrong then it all catches up with you in the end.

AND to another topic.
Complaints abound about the lack of salt and grit on the roads. Shortages? There is always one way to get to the truth of the matter - put the Transport Minister on the TV to say that 'there are no shortages'. There is 150,000 tons of the stuff on it's way to us. Reassuring words? No, because whenever a Minister speaks the truth is very often the opposite of what he says.

Still with the snow.
Royal Mail has been unable to deliver our post for the past few days. Until last night this was quite acceptable - I mean we are knee deep in snow.
Then we sat down to watch the BBC's 'The One Show' (2/12/2010) and guess what - there was a BBC film crew and presenter up in my neck of the woods. Right there filming from the corner of my road.
So if the BBC can get here why can't the postman?
Health and Safety is the reply.

MODS & ROCKERS by Gareth Brown

2010-11-20T11:35:00.002Z

1964 was a year without much news. Well, there was the Alaskan earthquake; an American warship was attacked by three torpedo boats off the coast of North Vietnam; the price of beef had shot up; Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus was 'shopping' for arms and Kruschev was in the selling business of arms to Egypt.
Only one of these stories would, eventually, erupt into headline news - Vietnam.
But for most of 1964 all these stories would be squeezed aside for the home-grown war between the Mods and Rockers on the beaches of Clacton, Brighton, Margate and Hastings.
And therein lies a bit of irony.
Part of the reason that the Marlon Brando movie 'The Wild One' was banned in the U.K. was because it showed two gangs meeting up in a small American town for a fight.
Therefore, to discourage impressionable teenagers from copying this the powers that be thought it best that we did not see it.
Well, there you go.
'Mods & Rockers: The Origins and Era of a British Scene' by Gareth Brown does a pretty good job of back-tracking this very British phenomenon to the early days of Rock 'n' Roll and the Teds along with the emergence of the teenage culture.
Like the splitting of a single cell the Mods and the Rockers emerged from the Teddy Boy era.
On the whole Gareth Brown's book is an informative excursion into the background of two clashing cultures. However, the book falls into two mythological traps.
The first is the musicality of the era.
Here Gareth Brown cites R & B and the Tamla Motown sound as Mod music and pure Rock 'n' Roll to the Rockers. Music of the period was universal. Martha and The Vandella's 'Dancing In The Street' is one example that got air time in Rocker cafes.
And Rockers would stomp with gusto the The Honeycombs' 'Have I The Right'.
The Beatles, too, played Rock 'n' Roll music.
In 1963 two songwriters, John Lennon and Paul MacCartney, wrote a ballet score that was performed by the Darrell Western Theatre and Ballet Company. It was called 'Mods & Rockers - a take on Romeo and Juliet.
The other trap was that Mods and Rockers simply hated each other.
OK, so Rockers thought that Vespa's and Labretta's were a bit effeminate - hair dryers is the name that we gave them. Yet, the mods had to be admired for the work they put in on them. Mirrors, headlights and the chrome work - they personalised their scooters.
The 'hate' was engineered. Hindsight makes things clearer.
Before Clacton the press made a big deal out of the mods. Their dance moves; how clean they looked and how mods came from the middle-class and worked in offices etc. Whereas, the Rocker was dirty, greasy, lower class and all out villains - if the press were to be believed.
Of course, when everything kicked off, the press painted both sides with the same brush.
While the Rocker tradition lives on it has to be said that the Mod culture died within a year of the battles on the English beaches. Yet without them there would not have been a very British scenario and one that would change everything from attitudes and the very freedoms that we have today. Though there are times when I think that, maybe, we also got some things wrong.
For a good insight into the history of these two cultures then Gareth Brown does a pretty good job. Like The Beatles ballet this piece of English history is overlooked even by the media that created it - guilt perhaps?
The book is published by Independent Music Press at £12.99 - or at HMV for £6.

NEED FOR SPEED: HOT PURSUIT

2010-11-20T02:17:00.004Z

Today saw the release of the latest 'Need For Speed' game from EA Sports who have joined forces with Criterion Games (creators of the 'Burnout' series).
At first glance this marriage has produced a game that could be called 'Need For Burnout Takedown'. My first impression.
If, as I did, read what the magazines had put across, you would have got the impression that the career mode was either as a racer or a cop. This is not the case as both careers run in tandem. Have to admit that there is more fun in taking out a cop car with spikes than vice versa.
As an added bonus there is a way of competing online with your friends. One problem there is that all my friends have elected to buy 'Call Of Duty: Black Ops' also released today and not on my 'to buy' list.
So, maybe, bad timing for this game's release.
Still this game can be described with a few 'f' words like fast, furious, fun and, at times, frustrating - but only when I don't come in first.

To me the true test of a game - and a player's skill - is taking the whole experience on-line. At last, a game with a level playing field where a 65 year old Brit can beat the younger generation at their own game. Four wins out of five - not a bad score.
This game is worth it just for the on-line experience alone.

The next game in this series - 'Need For Speed: Shift 2' will be coming out in 2011.

SMACKDOWN vs RAW 2011 - Update

2010-11-19T20:10:00.002Z

Just an observation and not quite sure what happened.
Played a Road To Wrestlemania. On completion went back to Universe mode and found that my character was still involved in a storyline that appeared to connect back to the RTWM story.
OK, I thought, where can I take this.
With some manipulation and imagination the game's weaknesses can be used to give it strength - and the player's storylines can be acted out for real.
I don't think that the game was meant to be played that way but there you go.

THE UNDERTAKER

2010-11-15T14:09:00.002Z

November 1990.
Twenty years ago.
He came from the shadows of time; from the graveyards of the mind to make an impact in the World Wrestling Federation.
He came dressed in a black coat and a black wide brimmed round crowned hat - a mortician brought from the old west into the modern world of wrestling. Slow and cautious with cold calculating eyes The Undertaker seemed impervious to pain.
Accompanied by Paul Bearer and a magic urn The Undertaker took on an imposing persona.
Over those twenty years he has possibly Tombstoned every Superstar on the rosters. Taken every belt on offer and more (with the exception of the Cruiserweight Belt, obviously).
Until a couple of years back two things had not been acheived at the Royal Rumble. Neither The Undertaker nor anyone who entered at number 30 had won the Royal Rumble.
The Undertaker drew no.30 and defeated Shawn Michaels to win that year's Royal Rumble.
And noted too for various types of matches from the early Body Bag to Buried Alive, Coffin matches, Boiler Room Brawls (remember the deranged Mankind), Concrete Crypt and the notorious Hell In A Cell.
And the classic Inferno Match with his brother Kane.
To sustain a character for twenty years is no mean feat.
To do that a character has to evolve and when I look back I am still surprised at the way that the Undertaker has evolved. Whether as heel or hero, The Undertaker, is still as fascinating to watch.
Nor has The Undertaker been truly defeated. He's been put in the coffin and buried alive and taken the 3 count - but has not rested until the perpetrator has been 'laid to rest'.
And that is a key part to the persona of the man.
Another part is the fact that The Undertaker has appeared at 18 Wrestlemanias and won on each occasion. An impressive tally.
Of course, this has not been a career without injury but each time that he has 'rested' The Undertaker has returned bigger and stronger.
Many critics say that his time as the 'American Bad Ass' biker was a mistake. Maybe, but he was still the Undertaker in human form and his transformation was like someone revealing their true character.
Today, there is a touch of the Ministry era but without the Acolytes.
Of course, over the years there have been others who have come from the Darkside like Papa Shango, Manotor, Damien DiMento, The Boogeyman and the white clad Malachi. All of these were unable to stay the course.
Over the years The Undertaker has dispatched the good, the bad and the ugly of the wrestling world. Giant Gonzales, King Kong Bundy, Bret Hart, Edge, Randy Orton - one hell of a long list of Superstars. Some like Razor Ramon just ran away rather than fight the 'Dead man' or 'The Phenom'.
Outside of the ring The Undertaker has appeared in graphic comics and a couple of novels.
I have heard that there was a poster that was designed similar to a poster for 'A Few Dollars More'. Wonder if that was why Clint posed the way he did on the cover of 'Unforgiven'? An Undertaker pose.
Such is the legacy of The Undertaker that the legend will live on long after he rests in peace.

SMACKDOWN vs RAW 2011

2010-11-10T11:27:00.004Z

It is that time of year again when THQ bring out the latest edition of the long running Smackdown vs Raw games for various game consoles.
Each year the claims grow bigger and bigger - this year it is 'This is your moment'.
Right, ok.
On the positive side the graphics are better and the game play is easier - in fact, too easy.
On the other hand the career mode is now known as 'Universe' and appears to be restricted to the Unified Tag Team Championships, US and Intercontinental Championships and the World Championships. Unlike the previous games the player has to earn the right (as in the real world of WWE wrestling)to compete for those titles.
Along the way other Championships are unlocked but cannot be competed for. For a player who does not have Xbox live the only way to get around this is to make a Championship Scramble match.
Although this game has a lot going for it - it could have been a lot better.
The 'moves' content appears to be restricted with a few superstars repeating the same moves.
In fact there are a lot of moves missing - like Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka's Jumping Axe Handle - from the list.
There is no point in creating Tag Teams as the 'Universe', like the WWE policy, insists on breaking up these teams. Still you can gesture like Stone Cold Steve Austin at the 'Universe' and re-make the team.
As a game to pass the time - yes.
As a game to be taken seriously - no.
Value for money? I wish I had waited for the cheaper Platinum (half price) version.

ON GAMES AND GAMING

2010-10-24T16:42:00.004+01:00

Tucked away in this month's XBOX 360 -The Official Xbox Magazine is a very telling statement.
'We're not sure Need For Speed will ever reclaim its old position at the top of the Christmas charts in this era of military shooter dominance.'
The article concerned was about the November 19th release of Need For Speed:Hot Pursuit and took up the space of four paragraphs. To be fair two of those paragraphs did more for the game than four or five pages of hype.

The past few weeks have been full of new games that would appear to have a climax at the end of this month with games like Fable 3, Smackdown vs Raw 2011, Sims 3 and Grey Matter.
But if you read the magazines then there have been pages devoted to the first mentioned game, one page Smackdown vs Raw and Grey Matter and none about Sims 3.
However, for months the likes of Medal Of Honour, Call Of Duty:Black Ops, Halo Reach and Gears of War have been hyped to the degree that I have managed not to be brainwashed into buying them. Try a couple out - yes, and was glad that I had not bothered to buy them. Halo Reach was so dull that I thought that I was playing one of the other shooters.
Visually, they have good graphics - but good visuals are not enough without a story to go with it. Monument Valley is visually stunning but without John Wayne and a stagecoach it is just a landscape.
I'm not knocking those who just want to shoot people and blow things up - each to their own.
Maybe that is because I like games that have a degree of problem solving attached to them. That there is a degree of survival that is linked not with having to shoot everything in sight which is why a game like 'Grey Matter' has a form of appeal. But then I have a lack of detail about the game just a gut instinct.
These games are not cheap - the top games this month alone would cost over £300 in total - and a game that costs £39.99 and lasts a couple of hours just does not feel like value for money. I guess, it comes down to what a gamer gets from a game.
Broken Trails, usually, does review games that look to have the potential to be value for money.

The other thing that is over-hyped is the new Xbox Kinect that comes into being on November 10th.
This way you can dispense with controls and wave your arms in the air, jump around and roll over the floor and your moves will be repeated by an animated character. Yay, leap over furniture and take cover and fire your fingers over the back of the settee at the bad guys. Man, I did all that when I was 6 years old and got told off for doing that.
Our verdict is that if we want to wave our arms in the air and all that jazz we'd invest in a Wii.
Downside is that if the Xbox continues down this road with more and more Kinect games then the console controlled games will disappear.

FALLOUT NEW VEGAS - XBOX 360

2010-10-23T00:49:00.003+01:00

Now if you liked 'Red Dead Redemption' you should like this.

Fallout New Vegas takes place about three years after the events in 'Fallout 3' but is not a sequel.
The main character is a courier taking a chip and some documents to the town of Primm but three men ambush him and leave him for dead with a bullet in his skull in a shallow grave. Fortunately, a rescue takes place and the courier wakes up after an operation performed by Doc Mitchell.
The doc asks a few questions which enables the gamer to choose their name, gender and character via a few questions. Then calculates your skills.
After this you toddle off to the saloon to meet Sunny Smiles who gives you some weapon training before going off to clear the town's wells of geckos.
If you have played 'Red Dead Redemption' then all this is familiar territory and is, therefore, a bit of a doddle.
The action takes place in the Mojave Desert (Mojave Wastelands) and Las Vegas.
However, that said, I liked the way that the gamer is able to create their own character and learn skills that help to build it up. You learn how to use plants for healing and for food. Learn how to make ammunition and embrace some gunsmithing skills.
This post-apocalyptic 'western' has very good graphics and soundtrack.
The gamer can either link up with companions or head on out as a loner.
When choosing companions Boone would be best and Rex the dog who, like the dog in 'Fable 2', finds objects for you rather than your character have to do all the rooting about.
Having only completed the first few levels I am finding it interesting and it looks to be a good game.
One slight and very picky problem is the gunsight as it is not quite accurate and needs a slight twitch to the left to hit the target.
Fallout New Vegas was released in the UK today 22nd October 2010.

THE DEFENCE CUTS

2010-10-20T01:02:00.003+01:00

I don't usually get political but -
So there was the British Prime Minister David Cameron standing in front of an audience of service personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force attempting to explain why the defence cuts were necessary.
A Harrier pilot wanted to know about his future as the aircraft that he flew was going to be decommissioned.
David Cameron, looking all intense and serious said that it was necessary to save the Typhoon as it was doing a good job in Afghanistan.
Well, to be honest, I wasn't aware that the Hawker Typhoon was still in active service. I mean this is a vintage Second World War aircraft - not a modern jet like the Tornado that does see a lot of action in Afghanistan.
Just so that Mr.Cameron, who must read a lot of Commando comics, knows what a Typhoon looks like I've added a picture.

THE HORROR GENRE

2010-10-18T14:54:00.003+01:00

Horror is a genre that spans all genres. Western, romance, sci-fi, murder mysteries - you name it someone out there could spin a horror yarn about it.
Fifty years ago Pan Books produced what would become a thirty year (volumes even) of the Pan Book Of Horror stories edited for the most part by Herbert Van Thal and, from volume 26 by Clarence Paget.
The anthology began with a short story by Joan Aitken called 'Jugged Hare' and ended with '...And The Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead' by Jonathan Cruise. Many authors filled in the years some well known like Robert Bloch, R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Agatha Christie, Bram Stoker, C.S.Forrester and, in later editions, Stephen King - many were not so well known. Plus an appearance in Volume 6 (1965) of a story by John Lennon called 'No Flies On Frank'.
This story also appears in 'Dark Voices' which is a 30th anniversary edition of the original series. The introduction by F.Paul Wilson is pure Lennonist writing. There are introductions to other tales from the likes of David Cronenberg, James Herbert, Clive Barker and Shaun Hutson.
Back in the 1960s it was these short stories that I read at night - the stuff of nightmares that came just before sleep. And I did sleep easy. Even today there are several volumes of horror short stories in my bedside bookcase.
Though I rarely venture into novels I do like the books by Shaun Hutson and Richard Laymon.
When it comes to horror it seems that bookshelves are filled with vampires, zombies, Frankenstein like monsters, haunted houses and the mummy. Although, Richard Laymon touches upon all these things it is when he makes what appears normal to be a scary place.
For example there are a couple in a car heading towards 'The Lake'. The male is remembering the time that he and his female companion first met at College. Then the author pulls the camera back and find that the female is tied into the passenger seat. The conversation, though still normal, takes on a darker hue.
This scene is almost a short story in itself.
One of the new wave of writers - I say new but he may have been around longer - is a chap called Neil Gaiman. I first came across him in an anthology 'Shadows Over Baker Street'. This is a collection of stories where 'Sherlock Holmes enters the nightmare world of H.P.Lovecraft' - and the Neil Gaimen story 'A Study In Emerald' opens up the proceedings. But Neil Gaimen stories can be found in a lot of new anthologies and ranked, on the covers, higher than Stephen King. What I like about this author is that he is a master of the short horror story.
And it was while I was reading Neil Gaiman's story that I recalled the days of 'The Pan Book Of Horror Stories'. Because I think that writing short stories is a darn sight harder than writing a book.
A skill in its own write.

THE HORDE (2010)

2010-10-17T23:29:00.003+01:00

Die Hard with Zombies - at least that is what the tag line says.
The film opens with a bunch of French cops attending the funeral of a fellow cop and they all vow to get the gang responsible. The gang hang out at the top of a derelict tower block and from the kick-off the cops are outplayed and outsmarted. Outside come sounds of distant explosions and a quick look out of the window shows a lot of folk making tracks towards the tower block.
Realising that they have a problem good guys and bad guys team up to escape - only the way out is blocked by zombies. Fortunately, there is still a resident in one of the flats. An old chap who is a veteren of Dien Bein Phu with quite an arsenal of weaponry.
There is no explanation of how the zombies came into being but this does not totally distract from the storyline. It's a what if...if you get my meaning. And the ending is a bit ambiguous...but the sound effects give the impression that this part of France is going to go the same way as Racoon City (Resident Evil).
The DVD comes with two versions French with English subtitles or dubbed in English.
Interesting to see the French making a zombie movie and although a touch on the violent and gory side, it's a pretty good job.

THE HELLIONS (1961)

2010-10-08T14:24:00.003+01:00

Luke Billings (Lionel Jeffries) and his family have a problem with the new police sergeant Sam Hargis (Richard Todd) so they take over a small Transvaal town with the attention of drawing Hargis into a showdown.
Hargis tries to get back up from the townsfolk who do not want to know, so is forced to lay low.
As things get out of hand one of the Billings boys takes an interest in the storekeeper's wife, Priss Dobbs (Anne Aubrey). Having had enough her husband, Ernie (Jamie Uys) takes up the gun and heads down the main street alone. An act that prompts Hargis to join him. Slowly, the townsfolk turn up to back them up.

This is a great 'western' set against a South African background.
From the above it would be reasonable to see the plot of 'High Noon' with the Clantons. Fair comment and might explain why it appealed more to American cinemagoers than the British.

James Booth who plays the eldest of the Billings boys, Jubal, is excellent with his soft yet menacing voice. It is interesting that Henry Hook's character and dress style in 'Zulu' owes something to Booth's Jubal.

This film marked the debut of one of Britain's pop idols, Marty Wilde (father of Kim), as John Billings and gives a credible performance.

Unfortunately, this film has not appeared on TV, video or DVD and I think that it is about time that was addressed. The British Film Institute makes a claim that it is concerned with bringing back forgotten movies - well, maybe, as 'The Hellions' was made forty years ago a release on it's 50th Anniversary would be a fitting time to issue the movie on DVD.

THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND

2010-10-07T13:32:00.003+01:00

The Camp On Blood Island is one of those movies that has never been released on video and rarely been seen on TV.
Now, at long last, the movie is now out on DVD and is presented in an uncut version.

The Camp On Blood Island was being filmed as 'The Bridge On The River Kwai' was released. And while the 'River Kwai' was a sanitised version concerning P.O.Ws held by the Japanese - 'Blood Island' was based on a true story and had a factual basis. Criticism branded 'The Camp On Blood Island' as over violent and sensational.
Despite this Lord Russell of Liverpool, whose book 'The Knights Of Bushido' about Japanese War Crimes, fully endorsed the movie.

'The Camp On Blood Island' was made by Hammer Films with backing by Columbia Pictures. It stars many of the stalwarts that would make their names with Hammer's horror movies. Andre Morell, Barbara Shelley, Edwin Richfield, Geoffrey Bayldon and Michael Ripper.

The film is set in Malaysia at the end of the war. It opens with a scene of a British soldier digging a grave - his grave. Prisoners of war look on as the Japenese gun him down.
The Commandant vows that should the Japanese ever surrender then every prisoner would be killed.
Attached to the men's camp is the women's camp.
In order to stay alive the prisoners in both camps have to prevent the Japanese from discovering that the war is over.

Both the original posters and the cover of the DVD shows a Japanese soldier with a raised sword. This executioner was played by a professional wrestler Milton Reid.
The Japanese soldiers were waiters from London's Chinatown who were hired as extras.

Today the movie might seem tame and branded politicaly incorrect - in fact, if that term had been in existence back in the late 1950s when the film was made, was the attitude of the film's critics.
However, my opinion is that beneath the drama what happened in those camps was the same as Lord Russell depicted in his book.

'The Camp On Blood Island' was released, uncut, on the 4th October 2010 along with the Stanley Baker movie 'Yesterday's Enemy' and Oliver Reed's 'The Damned'. Two more Hammer movies that have not seen the light of day for many years.

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL - Grand Final 2010 Replay

2010-10-02T09:00:00.004+01:00

And so the story continues.
A crowd of over 93,000 saw the Grand Final Replay between St.Kilda and Collingwood.
As with the previous week's drawn game Collingwood came out with all guns blazing and were on the scoresheet within 30 seconds of the bounce off.
The difference between this and last week's game was that Collingwood looked to have returned to form and completely smothered the Saints defence and attack.
Final result:
Collingwood 108
St.Kilda 52

This gives the Magpies their 19th flag and leaves the Saints waiting for their second.

ROBIN HOOD

2010-10-01T21:42:00.003+01:00

This is the 2010 Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe take on a traditional bit of British folklore.
Actually, it's not.
This version is like a prequel and an alternative history story.

On the plus side this movie is a good old actioner with Robin Longstride choosing to impersonate Robert Loxley in order to return the crown to King John and Loxley's sword to it's rightful owner. In doing so he learns about his own past and gains an identity.

However, this is one movie that demonstrates what happens when a writer does not fully research his subject.
The opening scenes shows the death of Richard The Lionheart years before his actual death.
Robin Longstride plans to jump ship at Gravesend. So it seems that the movie jumps from the 12th Centrury to the 17th without our hero aging. Okay, pendantic - but the village was named as Gravesham in the Domesday Book. Changed to Gravesend because of the plague pits in 1665 - that was the accepted version when I was at school.
Then the French invade England. D-Day all over again as the Norman army leap from landing craft under a barrage of English arrows. If my memory serves me well the Battle Of Hastings pre-dates the action in this movie.
Finally, King John now at the mercy of the Barons decides to burn the document that would form Magna Carta. I would get an angry response if I ever wrote a story that had someone ripping up the American Constitution. But Hollywood has managed to do just that for that American Constitution used Magna Carta as it's framework.

Who cares about Russell Crowe's accent? He made his character come to life but then he has rarely disappointed (personal opinion).
ROBIN HOOD had the potential to be a far better film than it is - it is just the lack of attention to detail that let it down.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION News

2010-10-01T16:07:00.002+01:00

Since the release of the Western RED DEAD REDEMPTION this game has topped 6.9 million sales.
A lot of people getting to grips with the western genre - then.

Even better there is now the possibility of the movie with Brad Pitt tipped to play the hero, John Marston.

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL: The Grand Final 2010 - St.Kilda v Collingwood

2010-09-25T17:33:00.003+01:00

It's that time of year.
The last Saturday in September marks the Grand Final that ends the Aussie Rules Footie season.
So, in the early hours of an UK morning while the rest of the country was busy sleeping I was sat in front of my TV with beef pie and a good supply of coffee.
The MCG stadium in Melborne, Australia was packed to the rafters with over 100,000 spectators.
And there had to be just as many again watching the game out on the streets.
INXS sang a medley of their hits and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra belted out the teams anthems. The atmosphere was electric.

What was about to happen was a repeat of the 1966 final when the Saints took the pennant from Collingwood Magpies by a single point.

Collingwood came out on fire. It took them just 24 seconds from the opening bounce off to score the first goal. They looked as though they had come out with that hunger to win.
In fact, their season form - after an initial defeat by St.Kilda - seemed, not only to mark themselves as finalist contenders, to indicate that this would be their year.
They had last lifted the cup back in 1990 - a feat that they appeared to achieve every twenty years.
By half time it could be reasonably assumed that they were heading towards victory.
St.Kilda, on the other hand, is one team that should not be written off. Just as it looks as though they are going down - they stage a comeback.
If the first half was all one way traffic then the second half was a lively demonstartion of St.Kilda's character.
Final quarter and it looked as though history was going to repeat itself.
St.Kilda 61 - Collingwood 60.
Just the one point in it.
Collingwood wasn't done.
They hit back with a goal and two behinds.
St.Kilda pulled the score back to one point.
Then in the dying seconds absolute drama as St.Kilda's captain kicked towards the open goal. Victory was in their grasp.
Nick Maxwell, Collingwood's capatain, chased the bouncing ball reaching out to just touch it with his fingertips.
Unbelievable - the six point goal had just been reduced to one point.
Final score at the klaxon - St.Kilda 68 Collingwood 68.
The first grand final draw since 1977.

So..........both teams have to do it all again next Saturday.

SCOTT ANDREWS - The Afterblight Chronicles

2010-09-06T13:37:00.005+01:00

Why does this happen?
I found a pretty good book 'Children's Crusade' by Scott Andrews in the local Waterstone's and sat down on the floor - well, they don't supply chairs - opened the book and started reading. Great opening chapter that set the scene and made me think a bit. It dawned on me that there was something that should come before and, sure enough, I was reading the third book of a trilogy. Had I looked at the back of the book I might have caught on sooner.
I just saw the title and thought that the book looked interesting.
Typical, books one and two were not on the shelves but the strength of that one opening chapter had me trawling the net for the other two books - 'School's Out' and 'Operation Motherland' - so, now I have the complete set.
Basics - There has been a plague that has swept the world and left those with O neg blood left alive (a play on Dave Wallis's 'Only Lovers Left Alive' there). I only make that allusion because in 'Only Lovers Left Alive' it was a teacher who committed suicide by throwing himself out of the classroom window and in 'School's Out' the headmaster commits suicide with a fistful of pills.
But there the similarity ends.
'School's Out' contains violence but while Dave Wallis's book gave the reader hope at the end - Scott Andrews shows us the hint that things could get worse before they get better.
In 'School's Out' the hero is 15 year old Lee Keegan and introduces the reader to the matron of the school, Jane Crowther. These two characters have a tandem role to play in 'Operation Motherland'. Lee celebrates his sixteenth birthday by crashing a plane, fighting for his life and facing execution - again. This time in Iraq as he searches for his father. Meanwhile, Jane fights to save the children in her school.
And Jane is still doing just that by the time I reach 'Children's Crusade'.
These post-apocalytic tales boast a strong story-line, real people in that they are not heroic - they break under pressure and torture - nor is any character there to make up the numbers.
All I know is that the author, Scott Andrews, was born in the London area back in 1971 - though I have a suspicion that he might live in my neck of the woods. He has written a guide to 'Farscape' and worked on Doctor Who and Highlander audio stories.
Also, he likes 'The Magnificent Seven'.
The Afterblight Chronicles are published by Abaddon Books and include the Scott Andrews novels and books by Paul Kane 'Arrowhead' and 'Broken Arrow' - and being ahead this time - 'Arrowland' due out later this year. 'Broken Arrow' contains a short story by Scott Andrews.
But the Paul Kane books will be reviewed at a later date - but if you fancy reading about Robin Hood taking on tanks and helicopter gunships then there is no need to wait.

ONE DAY IN LIBERTY - REVIEWED

2010-08-20T22:27:00.004+01:00

A review of my short story 'ONE DAY IN LIBERTY' written under the name Jack Giles is now at Davy Crockett's Almanack.
It is just one of twenty one stories in 'A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS.

So here is a reprise of the background to the story:

Tuesday the 13th February 1866 was a cold overcast day. A blustery wind had picked up that carried a hint of snow. This did not deter the ten men who drifted into the town of Liberty, Missouri in twos and threes and who met up outside the Clay County Savings Association Bank.
Nobody took much notice after all it was not unusual to see groups of men meet up and hang around outside the bank.
Nor did it cause the bank cashier, Greenup Bird or his son, the teller, William much concern when, at 2 pm that day, two men entered the bank. One paused by the stove to warm his hands while the other approached William Bird with the request that he change up a $10 dollar bill.
So began what was to become the biggest bank robbery in the annals of the west.
What made this robbery different from any other was that it was the first bank robbery to be carried out in broad daylight.
Both the vault and the tills were cleaned out though the amount taken varies to different accounts. James Love, the bank president, claimed that only $50,000 in cash, gold and bonds were taken whereas contempory accounts put the figure as high as $75,000. The only consistent figure is that part of the haul amounted to between $40 -$45,000 in bearer bonds.
The robbery would have gone unnoticed had the robbers thought to have locked the vault where they had imprisoned both Greenup Bird and his son. The Birds escaped to raise the alarm and that was when the shooting started - fire was exchanged between robbers and citizens during which 19 year old William Jewell College student, George Wymore, was killed. His killing was laid at the robbers feet.
James Love posted a reward of $5000 for the capture of the robbers and return of the money - it was never claimed.
So who were the robbers?
Whoever robbed the Clay County Savings Association Bank knew the two Birds for when locking them up one of the robbers was heard to say: "All Birds should be caged." And, I rather imagine that Greenup Bird was well aware of who was pointing a gun at him.
Also of note is that at the outbreak of the American Civil War the State of Missouri declared for the Union while a vast majority of the people backed the Confederacy. Most of the inhabitants of Clay County alone were from Tennessee and Virginia and had brought their slaves with them and had hemp and tobacco plantations.
The Clay County Savings Association Bank was a pro-Union bank - therefore, a prime target for returning disgrunted Confederate soldiers some of whom would have not been happy with the state of their farms and greedy banks calling in loans etc.
Months later suggestions of names were put forward suggesting people who had ridden with Frank and Jesse James who lived 10 miles to the north at Kearney, Missouri. Feasible as the robbers rode north out of Liberty followed by a posse who lost the trail when a blizzard struck wiping out the trail.
The reward flyer put out by James Love states that the gang operated out of Sibley in Jackson County - which is to the south of Clay County.
One problem that I see with the James boys being involved is that at the time of the robbery Jesse was at home recovering from a chest wound.
Nor do any accounts of the James-Younger gang reveal that they were responsible for the first daylight bank robbery - then again, they didn't deny it.
Of one thing that is certain is that the robbery was carried out by people who were local to Liberty or residents of Clay County.
After reading many accounts of this robbery there are two things that stand out.
The first is that one of the robbers mentioned the Birds by name and I suspect that the elder Bird knew who at least one of the robbers was. Also, accounts say that when the Birds were placed in the vault the robbers forgot to lock the door. I do not think that the robbers forgot - they never intended to lock the door. This was not an oversight but carried out by someone who knew that it might be some time before they were discovered and released - by which time the Birds could have suffocated and died.
I believe that it was expected that the Birds would be too scared to try the door and thus give the robbers the chance to escape undetected.
The second thing that strikes me is the matter of the bearer bonds. There is no paper trail - though it was just about two and a half years after the robbery that the last bond was cashed.
To my mind this was a robbery that was planned down to the last detail and may have been a one off.
One other thought that occurs is that many of the investors were also Union supporters who were hit by the robbery. The bank trading was suspended and they were paid out at 60 cents to the dollar - damaging enough to put some people out of business.
Of course, all those involved in the events of that one day in Liberty are long dead and the truth may never be known. The identity of those who committed the first and largest daylight bank robbery will remain a mystery.

Writing about a true historical event is not easy. In fact the story was not even in my mind when the proposals for the anthology were first mooted. It took a cold and a day in bed for me to discover the threads of the story.
I was reading the December 1980 issue of the short lived Western Magazine where there was an article by Jeff Burton called 'Daylight Robbery At Liberty' in which he asked the question: Who were the dirty dozen who got away with point-blank murder?
After reading this a different type of germ began to take shape.
The first thing that I noticed when surfing the net was that there were a bunch of people out there who believed that the robbery was carried out by the James-Younger gang.
On the other side of the coin were another bunch of people who offered other ideas like the one where it was one of Quantrell's lieutenants who robbed the bank.
Yet not one account answered a simple question - why?
Because it was there? I don't think so.
My main concentration went to looking for a reason why. The first was easy the robbery at Liberty was the first daylight robbery - so it had to be planned. The second was the $40,000 in bonds - they were disposed off without leaving a trail.
There had to be a middle man in there somewhere.
All the time the germ of an idea was turning into a story.
There aren't many post-Civil War stories around. In fact I can only remember a scene from a John Payne movie (yes Payne, not a typing error)and another with John Chandler Davies that dealt with the Reconstruction era.
Without a word on the page the character of Nathan Clarke was forming. His fears for the future; the hanging of the Andersonville Commandant, Henry Wirz and the collapse of communities as the land grabbers moved in. I could feel his anger and frustration not only with the situation but with the prejudice against those who had fought for or supported the 'wrong' side.
He became the kind of man who would rob the bank in Liberty in daylight - a tactical surprise.
For the robbery itself I stuck to both the description and dialogue as reported.
As there are several accounts of the robbers escape and the chase I did condense several accounts into one.
I don't buy the story that the nineteen year old boy, George Wymore, was gunned down by the robbers. Again there are several accounts which place him in the locale but in different places ranging from raising the alarm himself to crossing the road further up from the bank. He could just as easily been a victim of 'friendly fire' as to being gunned down by a bunch of men trying to make their escape or a ricochet.

Like all the other authors in the anthology 'A Fistful Of Legends' we had an excellent editor in the shape of Nik Morton. He asked a few questions and made a couple of suggestions and the result is what you read.

EDGE: A Welcome Return

2010-08-10T14:30:00.002+01:00

George G Gilman's creation Edge is set to return via e-books and print on demand paperbacks by Solstice Publishing.

Back in 1972 Edge was depicted as a new kind of western hero - or anti-hero.
A violent man in a violent world. A man who survived by being far more brutal than those who came against him.
The kind of man who could sit back and watch a woman being raped because it was none of his business. Sooner or later it was the actions of others that would make it his business.

The character of Edge spans the traditional with the spaghetti western and over the course of 61 books he both evolves and ages. It is this point that is generally missed. Edge can be chauvinistic but could he ever be capable of any emotion? Gilman's skill in creating a moment when Edge marries Beth only to have her die shows that Edge has more depth than is suspected.
The series of books were not only influential in the seventies but their appeal continues in today's world. The US saw only 49 Edge books published by Pinnacle and the remaining books are highly sought after.

And now I get personal.
Without Edge there may never have been a Jack Giles.
The paperback series started me on a trail with Poseidon Smith and Pad Maghee as two possible series. They went to all the trade paperbacks and the response was highly encouraging but no one was taking on new western writers. I had arrived just a tad too late and the series western was coming to an end.
So I wrote to George G. Gilman aka Terry Harknett and asked for advice. He gave me a suggestion and the rest is history. Poseidon Smith was published by Robert Hale in 1984 and the Pad Maghee story 'The Man From Labasque' was my fourth published book.
Terry Harknett wrote to me to congratulate me and hoped that one day our books would be on the same shelf. My wife tells me that it happened on the shelves at Bromley Library.

Edge now gets a second run and I wish Terry all the success and hope that Edge will influence and inspire new writers to turn to the west.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

2010-08-05T12:22:00.003+01:00

Who Do You Think You Are? is a tv programme that tells the family stories of celebrities who have all sorts of researchers popping up to tell the celebs all about their history. Even when they type in a name on an Ancestry search site they get a result.
In real life the amatuer researcher doesn't always get that lucky.
The programme itself is designed to get people interested in geneology.

Geneology was something that I was into long before the tv series began and there certainly no experts popping out of the woodwork to say that they had found out something about my relatives.
My mother's side was relatively easy - I knew enough that to get to the 1700s family in Ponypridd, Wales took less time than I expected.
My father's side not so easy.

While my mother's family were happy to talk about their history my father's were very tight lipped except my great-grandfather who often spun tales about a mythical great aunt Sarah and The Saracen's Head near St. Paul's. She became almost legendary and the truth was, I discovered later, that Sarah was a formidable person. On reading the London Illustrated News for 1868 - the year that my great-grandfather was born - most of what he had told me was there. Though there was other stuff that I knew and not all of it in the public domain. To find them you have to read her will and old trials at the Old Bailey.
He was so proud of great aunt Sarah yet never knew the truth that he wasn't related to her - not by blood.
Certainly, Richard the man who became his father may have been related for my great grandfather and his brother were born before Richard married their mother.
Even then I have my doubts for there are no records of his birth except that he was an inmate of the Bermondsey Workhouse - but he did have a brother who was christened there and his father was certainly related.
But therein lies echoes of my great-grandfather's life for he was placed in an Industrial School after his father left the family. His mother remarried but he never knew what happened next.
Today we have access to numerous records and, to a degree, I do know what happened next and it is sad to note that there was another brother that he never knew about.

Geneology can be fun but the human side can be found.
If someone was to say that I come from a long line of bastards - they wouldn't be wrong for there are three generations of them and link two brothers from the 1700s who form a circle to my dad's paternal grandfather.

In many ways it is like writing a book. As each piece slots into place it builds into a family saga.
Death at sea during the Seven Years War; Ecclesiastical lawyers; fairground gypsies; marriners and shipbuilders; cigarette factory workers; bricklayers; carpenters; carters.
All with their triumphs and tragedies - christenings that are followed days later by a buriel are amongst the realities that life was harsher then than it is now.

When it is all said and done who we are is who we are - but it is good to know where the roots lie.
Be quite fun if one of my off spring became a celeb in a hundred years time and some researcher came up and says: 'I've just discovered this blog that your great-great grandfather did.'

In the labels section are a load of names just in case there are those out there who think they may have a link.

THE ROMANI IN AMERICA

2010-07-24T10:14:00.003+01:00

They don't turn up very often and when they do then they are classed as Basque gypsies. Films like the 1959 western 'Thunder In The Sun' and 'Broken Trail'. In books it is the same though in Matthew P. Mayo's western 'Winter's War' there is a very brilliant and accurate description of a vardo - a vardo is a horse drawn wagon and is a word that covers caravan.

It is interesting that three Portugese gypsies were with Columbus when he discovered America.

As far as I can work out is that the first British Romanies set foot on American soil curtesy of the British transportation system. The charges ranged from gry choring to ker poggring (horse stealing to housebreaking).

Before you start thinking that my rokkering the jib (speaking the language) is me showing off it is more to emphasise that the language of the Romany was quite important.

If asked 'Can you chin the cost?' the average person wouldn't be able to answer the question but another Romany could.

Language is all about communication. The Romany language has been described as a 'secret language' whereas it is their language as much as English is to a certain extent of the world or German to the Germans and so on.

And my answer to the question above would be 'No, I don't know how to make clothespegs.'

But it was the language that transported Romany's used to 'discover' others of their own kind.

Over the years many settled in Kentucky,Tennessee and South Carolina.

1850 saw the influx of more Romany families who quickly seized the opportunity to do what they did best - horse trading. After the Civil War many moved westward bringing their skills with them.

But the west was a suspicious place. These mustangers, bronco-busters and horse traders had the looks of Native Americans. Whether Romany or the half breed didikoi in the heat their skin darkened and with their dark hair mistakes were made and their history becomes blurred.

So blurred that today families, even if they suspect the truth, will tell their children that their dark looks come from a distant 'Native American' rather than own up. While there are those who do admit the truth.

The days of the travelling tinkers, the peg makers and other Romany trades have largely disappeared as has the language itself.

To me the language was a few scattered words that I learned as a child and strong denials that our family had gypsy connections. Today I know different - geneology has proved that.

There are people around today called Arnold, Ayres, Bowers, Scamp, Sharp, Williams and one that has famous connections - Eastwood - that may have Romany origins. Certainly, these were the names of many Romany families.
Some familiar names with Romany connections: Yul Brynner, Charlie Chaplin, Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins and The King himself - Elvis Presley. As did Sir Henry Wood the founder of the Promenade Concerts that we still enjoy today.
What is not in doubt is that the Romany Gypsy from across the world should be recognised for the part that they played in the building of America.

TRANSVISION VAMP

2010-07-21T16:07:00.003+01:00

A while back I went through a box of old cassettes and came across three albums by a group called Transvision Vamp. So I put them through the cassette player and found myself quite mesmerised.

Tranvision Vamp comprised Nick Christian Sayer, Dave Parsons, Tex Axile, Pol Burton and, as lead singer, Wendy James.

The sound post punk/rock and Wendy James had the right punk, rebellious voice that their music needed - yet could gentle down to the ballad like songs 'Sister Moon'.

Wendy James just had this voice that made people sit up and listen.

The group signed to MCA in 1986 and released a debut single 'Revolution Baby' in 1987. But 1988 saw the group break into the charts with 'I Want Your Love'. However, they would have to wait until 1989 for things to really hot up with hits like 'Baby, I Don't Care', 'The Only One' and 'Landslide Of Love'.

While single success seemed more of a swings and roundabout affairs the Tranvision Vamp albums fared better with 'Pop Art' peaking at No.3 and twenty odd weeks in the charts while the far more successful 'Velveteen' went in straight at the top spot and spent thirty odd weeks in the chart.

Unfortunately, MCA were not keen on the third album 'Little Magnets vs The Bubble Of Babble'

and delayed the release and by the time it hit the shops in 1991 Transvision Vamp had disbanded.

Despite this Wendy James stayed signed to MCA and had a solo album 'Now Ain't The Time For Tears' from which the singles 'The Nameless One', ' London's Brilliant' and 'Do You Know What I'm Saying?' were released with disappointing results.

A shame as Wendy James was trying to make her own way - sure there were shades of Transvision Vamp there but a hint of a new direction. Something that is illustrated by the Transvision Vamp albums as though they knew the difference between what is commercial (ie the chart hits) and goes to show that sometimes record companies don't - 'Sister Moon' being an example - and the beauty of 'Velveteen' that, in my opinion, made the album a success.

Reading between the lines Wendy James knew what she wanted - she wasn't 'Born To Be Sold' but determined to write her own history.

In 2004 she attempted a comeback with a band called 'Racine' which came to a halt.

In my view Wendy James did write her piece into music history with Transvision Vamp.

MATTHEW P. MAYO: His News

2010-07-14T19:25:00.002+01:00

Once upon a time most books could expect a paperback deal to follow. These days it is not so much the case.

So, when Matthew P. Mayo announced that a paperback deal had been made with Dorchester/Leisure books I was quite thrilled and can only congratulate him on this acheivement.

I think that Matthew P. Mayo is the first Black Horse Western writer to have his novels reprinted in paperback.

The first novel in print will be 'Winters' War' which will be available in May, 2011.

'Wrong Town' and 'Hot Lead, Cold Heart' will follow a few months after.

The word is that Dorchester/Leisure are looking for authors who would like to see their books reprinted.

I hope that some of the Black Horse Western writers will seize the day and take advantage of the opportunity.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION: Is Seth played by.....

2010-07-12T14:13:00.005+01:00

Sorry, Gary but I just could not resist this one.

To take a serious view of RED DEAD REDEMPTION I have noticed more and more of the younger generation attracted to the western dvds at our local HMV. Whether that is down to the game or not I haven't a clue - might just be coincidence.

At the moment my son is playing the game and his view is that if he is getting the vibe that others could well be finding their way towards the genre.

Anyone who asks then we are directing them towards Gary's Tainted Archive who is running a book by book review of George G. Gilman's 'Edge' series and Steve M's Western Fiction Review.

SOLOMON KANE

2010-07-04T12:53:00.002+01:00

Fight Evil.....With Evil

Writer/Director Michael J Bassett has produced quite a good movie featuring an almost forgotten character created by Robert E. Howard.
Howard is better known for the stories that chronicled the life of Conan who is the subject of a new movie.

Solomon Kane is a privateer/mercenary waging war on the North African coast in 1600. It is here that Kane encounters the Devil's Reaper who has come to claim Kane's soul.
"I'm not ready for Hell - yet." Kane tells him as Kane makes his escape.
Kane takes refuge in an Abbey where he begins his journey towards redemption. But that road is long and has many routes - some of them painful.
As he journeys towards his West Country home he is given food and shelter by a Puritan patriarch (Pete Postlethwaite) and his family. Kane finds himself drawn towards the daughter Meredith (Rachel Hurd-Wood)
The West Country of 1601 is plagued by an evil band of Raiders and ruled over by a man called Malachi. It is not long before the group of travellers are attacked by the Raiders resulting in the deaths of the males and the abduction of Meredith.
Kane goes after them to rescue Meredith.
To go further would mean a whole bunch of spoilers but Solomon Kane's journey to redemption does draw the viewer in.
James Purefoy gives a faultless performance as Kane.
One other performance comes down the combination of costumier and Samuel Roakin's acting as the leader of the Raiders - a pure evil presence on screen.
The rumour mill has this film as the first of a trilogy.

WESTERN FICTIONEERS

2010-07-04T00:51:00.002+01:00

A great new group of western writers has started up to promote the western genre.
Check out the new site at http://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com where an intro has been written by Frank Roderus.

THE HORSECLANS SAGA

2010-07-01T20:41:00.003+01:00

Franklin Robert Adams was a career soldier born in 1933 and died in 1990.

He is considered to be one of the earliest writers to depict a post-nuclear holocaust world.

The Horseclans saga comprises 18 novels published between 1975 and 1988.

There is a mix of sci-fi and Arthurian romance. The setting is that part of America to the west of the Mississippi and stretches from Canada to Texas.

Heroes come in Undying form and characters like Bili Morghun (aka Bili The Axe) are, at least, a century old yet never show signs of age. They are also telepathic through which they are able to communicate with their allies a pack of sabre tooth tigers.

The art work for the Orbit paperbacks (an example shown) has that heroic vibe to it.

Robert Adams was a good storyteller and his descriptive passages were first class. Added to that was his knowledge of weaponry that gave an authentic feel.

All the books about the Horseclans inter-connect so, although each book has an ending, there is not really a novel that can be classed as the usual stand alone.

Tribal classes and weird, suspicious relgions turn up many illustrative of a point that the author feels that he has to make - like a mask covering his own thoughts.

The books in the series are:

1. The Coming Of The Horseclans

2. Swords Of The Horseclans

3. Revenge Of The Horseclans

4. Cat Of A Silvery Hue

5. The Savage Mountain

6. The Patrimony

7. Horseclans Odyssey

8. The Death Of A Legend

9. The Witch Goddess

10. Bili The Axe

11. Champion Of The Last Battle

12. A Woman Of The Horseclans

13. Horses Of The North

14. A Man Called Milo Morai

15. The Memories of Milo Morai

16. Trumpets Of War

17. Madman's Army

18. Clan Of The Cats

There are two anthologies of Horseclans related short stories simply called Friends Of The Horseclans 1 and 2.

I picked up 'The Coming Of The Horseclans' quite by chance but Googling has not really brought up anything much except for brief biographies of the author and a list of his works. Nor had I come across this series.

Some of the books are, it appears, available for download.

The first three books certainly have the feel of a trilogy about them and I have ordered the next three from Amazon.

POST No. 250

2010-07-01T01:41:00.002+01:00

Believe it or not but this is the 250th post.
And I don't have a clue about how to celebrate the moment.
So 250 posts on and what stories have attracted attention?

Surprisingly, to me, the piece that I did on 'Peyton Place' and the author Grace Metalious has been the biggest single article to be read. As is Alan Sillitoe's short story 'Uncle Ernest'.

In the comic world both 'V For Vengeance' and 'The Legend Of Lord Snooty' have attracted a lot of attention.

While on the music front the attention has been on Skillet's 'Awake' album, the new Meatloaf album, The New Christy Minstrels and The Ronettes.

As was expected the 'Red Dead Redemption' console game has been a minor hit.

There is no preconceived concept with Broken Trails - it just ambles along, breaks off and re-appears further down the line. And it has more to do with things that interest me and the kids. And while some things aren't everybody's cup of tea - and it would be a dull old world if they were - I just hope that there is something for everybody.

Here's to the next 250.

THE KILLING TRAIL by Chuck Tyrell

2010-06-28T10:50:00.003+01:00

The average Black Horse Western runs between 130,000 and 145,000 words and Chuck Tyrell is one of those writers who do not waste a single word.

Whether Chuck Tyrell is writing about character, location or objects it is done in a seemless way that it is like a painting taking shape. Word pictures.

The centre of this story is Nat Dylan who is on the vengeance trail.

On minute fifteen year old Nat is having a crush on the 19 year old schoolmistress, Rebecca Shoemeister, - the next he is struggling with the news that his three older brothers have been killed by a man named Jared Carter. Picking up his brother's Remington he vows to see Carter dead.

Five years on and Dylan and Carter find themselves in the same place at the same time which means that things have to come to a conclusion.

There are a fistful of threads to this story that carries it above the usual revenge tale. Nat Dylan grows in stature and character as the story builds towards the conclusion. Then there is the question of honour and, as the reader discovers, there is more than one kind of honour here.

'The Killing Trail' by Chuck Tyrell is a June release from Robert Hale Ltd's Black Horse Western range.

ONE WAY FOR ENGLAND TO WIN WORLD CUP

2010-06-27T17:56:00.001+01:00

THE BEST OF BATTLE

2010-06-22T14:43:00.003+01:00

"We were looking for inspiration from movies like 'Dirty Harry' and the spaghetti westerns: in the case of 'RAT PACK' we got it with 'The Dirty Dozen'."

And there certainly are influences at work in these stories.

Robert Shaw from 'Battle Of The Bulge' with a touch of Red Grant is the inspiration for 'Hellman Of Hammer Force.'

A Clint Eastwood/James Coburn 'Cross Of Iron' character has to be behind Major Eazy.

'Battle' Comic ran from the early 70s to the 80s but I have no recollection of this so reading the extracts from the various series has certainly been an eye opener.

Movies, obviously, played a part towards the inspiration but the idea of comic featuring stories that had Germans as heroes or anti-heroes must have some links to the books of the likes of Sven Hassel.

One grouse - 'HOLD HILL 109' ran for six weeks, according to the intro so I feel a little cheated that the book gives just four of the episodes.

Still I enjoyed the rest of this compilation from Titan Books that featured the likes of 'D-Day Dawson', 'Johnny Red', 'Charley's War' amongst the 18 featured stories.

'Darkie's Mob' and 'Johnny Red' have been issued in all new reprint editions with 'Rat Pack' and 'Major Eazy'. Also, in 6 volumes has been the complete reprint of 'Charley's War'.

There were some articles on 'Charley's War' at http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com

NEW ZEALAND: WORLD CUP HEROES

2010-06-20T17:19:00.003+01:00

They are ranked about 78th in the world - but today New Zealand held Italy to a 1-1 draw.
This has to be one of the memorable matches to date.
New Zealand was one of those teams that expected nothing from their World Cup appearance but it goes to show that with imagination a team can acheive anything.
Now go beat Paraguay - go Kiwis.

ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP

2010-06-19T15:33:00.004+01:00

Oh! What a circus - oh! what a show.
Wayne Rooney blaming the fans and the pundits along with the media blame the manager.
Truth is come the day there are eleven English players on the pitch and the onus to play to win is on them and no one else.
They play like a bunch of old men - but then they are. For some this is their third or fourth World Cup when really the team that is on the field should be young and fired with enthusiasm. A team that has the ability to face all comers on an equal footing.
There seems no point in the current team turning up to face Slovenia.
The way I see it even if England were to win it would only prolong the agony as there is a good chance that they will face a German team that will send England home.
It is time to shelve the likes of Terry, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney - a team does not consist of 'I's. And headlines that claim that it is Rooney's World Cup do not help - if anything it is should read England's World Cup.
Until England has a team that has pride in itself England will not get their hands on either the European or World Cups.
There are teams in this World Cup who are going to go out in these early rounds. Some of them are facing teams that are way above their league but they are fighting for every inch of ground.
Algeria were that good that they looked as though they would have ended England's misery.
So in the aftermath what really worries England - ah! yes - security. A fan managed to breach security to tell England just what he thought of them. The message I'm getting from that is that the fans mean nothing and that we should not criticise the England team.
Yeah, well - where's the nearest recycling bin?

And what is it about Australia?
Play Germany and they get a man red carded.
Play Ghana and guess what - yep, another red card and down to 10 men.
Should they bother to field a full team against Serbia?
Or is this some kind of conspiracy by England who, should they top their group, would play Australia had they come second in their group.

JONATHAN MONK: REPATRIATION UPDATE

2010-06-18T15:24:00.003+01:00

17th June 2010 - Jon Monk who was killed in Afghanistan returned home along with Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze who had also died as a result of a roadside bomb.
They landed at R.A.F. Lyneham, Wiltshire where a short ceremony took place for the families.
Later the cortege passed through Wootton Bassett where family and friends lined the route. The coffins were en route to John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford for the final official post mortem.
ITV covered the return on their programme 'London Tonight' where friends Richard Hammond, Ben Satchell and Jack Foster paid tribute to Jon.
It is expected that Jon's funeral will take place in approximately two weeks time at Croydon Crematorium.

DAILY MAIL - YOU GOT IT WRONG

2010-06-17T01:17:00.003+01:00

Anyone who saw the front page of today's Daily Mail should have been disgusted.
In the wake of the Bloody Sunday report the headline screamed about 'the face of the British soldier'. Pictured were two soldiers who had been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. So, they served in Northern Ireland - what, then, was the Daily Mail implying?
Both the pictured soldiers had not been a part of 'Bloody Sunday' - they had not even been born.
It begs the question just what kind of point the Daily Mail was trying to make?
And as I knew one of the soldiers I know that the reporter on this story tried to get the parents to make comments about 'Bloody Sunday'. They wouldn't - they couldn't do that. It had nothing to do with the death of their son.
I think that the Daily Mail owes an apology to all the relatives of those who lost their lives in Afghanistan. The innuendo contained in your article seems to just cheapen the sacrifice that our soldiers make.

IN MEMORIAM:THE REALITY OF WAR

2010-06-09T22:30:00.003+01:00

At 10 am this morning one of the people in this photo died fighting the war in Afghanistan.

Jon Monk and my son, Jack, were inseparable from the word go. A pair of jokers who did everything together. School, working as fishmongers, Army Cadets - they did it all. The best of friends who were going to join the Army together.
Except that Jack got married and Jon went into the Army. He served for his allotted time and was posted to Northern Ireland and then to the Iraq conflict.
Life in civvy street did not enthuse Jon and he re-enlisted in the army and was sent out to Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
Last night Jack and Jon were conversing on Facebook and making arrangements for a night out at the end of this month - but the Taliban made sure that will not happen.
Rest In Peace - Jon. You will be missed.
And we send all our love, sympathy and condolences to Jon's family.

Jon is on the left or the front - and that is the way we will remember him.

Further reading regarding Jon's death can be found at http://helmandblog.blogspot.com
and http://ukdf.blogspot.com

EVOLUTION

2010-05-29T13:27:00.004+01:00

What links:
a) console games like 'Damnation', B.Sokal's 'Syberia' and 'Reasonance Of Fate'.
b) 'The Wild, Wild West' - both the tv series and the movie.
c) Writers like Jules Verne, H.G.Wells and Mary Shelley.

The easy answer is the possibility that without the influences of the writers none of those above would have existed.
Extraordinary worlds where flying dreadnoughts and T.A.R.D.I.S like submarines are totally acceptable and have influenced other writers like Michael Moorcock and Orson Scott Card.
It is like a sub-genre that embraces science fiction, fantasy and alternative histories set against the dark, industrial days of Victorian and Edwardian England. Even the wild west can be incorporated into this world - an alternative weird west. Maybe, even a 'Wild, Wild West'.
In the 1980's/1990's this type of fiction was given a name - steampunk - as most stories were set in the age of steam.
Nor is that far fetched as in 1923 a percentage of cars owned in the US were either steam driven or powered by electricty. In fact both types of car existed long before petrol driven vehicles came into being.
Steampunk has a wider leeway than most fiction - and a following amongst gamers.

In the current issue of Black Horse Extra (there is a link in the side panel) there is and article by Black Horse Western writer David Whitehead about the need to change the way of the west to appeal to new readers. Everything that he says sounds right and I cannot argue with him on that.

In a curious way the western is a kind of steampunk. Sounds daft - but steam trains and the ironclads of the American Civil War can be found in that sub-genre.

To some extent I do believe that if writers do want to catch the imagination of the young then the books that they want to read have to be written. Whether that is the book of the game or a brave new world - whether it is to give a new slant to sci-fi or the western - writers can change the game.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GAME

2010-05-26T22:31:00.002+01:00

What a week for games - 'Alan Wake' last Friday followed a week later by 'Red Dead Redemption', 'Split Second Velocity' and the latest instalment of 'Prince Of Persia' brought forward to tie in with the movies release.

Gaming was something that I came to via therapy to aid hand and eye co-ordination as well as to help me build up concentration. At the time we had a Play Station 1 and the selection of games left a lot to be desired. Wrestling games and shoot 'em ups - the type that didn't need a brain to operate. But, then I discovered 'Tomb Raider', 'Resident Evil' and 'Silent Hill' - games that did not rely on the gun but were loaded with puzzles that needed solving. Somehow, this became my home turf and by playing I found that I could read longer and watch tv programmes near enough almost all the way through.

The PS1 was replaced by the PS2 but I did not go to the PS3 because of all the delays in release and negative publicity. So it was the XBox 360 that replaced the PS2 as the main console.
The biggest criticism that I have is that with greater memory and storage space the game has deteriorated.
The last two entries into the 'Resident Evil' series have disappointed - the puzzle and story element have been sacrificed for a higher body count. Maybe, that is just the way of the world.
Fortunately, the formats for 'Tomb Raider' and 'Silent Hill' have a continuity. So, when games like 'Red Dead Redemption' or 'Alan Wake' come along I'm only too happy to add them to my collection - which is not very large.

Most games have an on-line link. The XBox 360 comes complete with a headset so that you can talk to other gamers all around the globe.

In a world where the movie industry has cottoned on to the fact that there is an audience out there many games have been made into films. 'Grand Theft Auto', 'Bloodrayne', 'Far Cry' Resident Evil', 'Silent Hill' , 'Tomb Raider' and the latest blockbuster 'Prince Of Persia'.
But where, some gamers ask, is the book of the game?

As I said there is a point to these posts and the next piece, I hope, will make it.

BOY RACERS AND EASY RIDERS

2010-05-25T11:46:00.004+01:00

BROKEN TRAILS is about to go off on a tangent with some stuff about gaming and I know that it is a subject that doesn't appeal to everybody - but there is a point and all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Racing games were not my thing. I couldn't handle them at all despite all the hand and eye co ordination therapy. They were too fast for me.
That was until a couple of years ago when I attempted a game called 'Burnout Takedown'. Just one race on this game showed just how much my own concentration as well as hand and eye responses had grown over time. But more about that in another post.

FORZA 3
This is probably the best motor racing game around at the moment. Even XBox 360 magazines rave about it with scores of 9 and 9.4 out of ten. But 'the best racing game ever'? Certainly, addictive for the first couple of seasons but then becomes repetitive.
The downside is the Leaderboards. If you want to find out how well you've done - don't bother. For example if the race is for the Lambourghini Murcielago LP 640 only why is the top ten either an Audi, Rossion Q1 or Porsche 997RS none of which are eligable for that race? A quibble, I know, but even the magazines can't answer that question.
Despite that the game is reasonably good.

NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT
NFS:Shift is Forza 3 with aggression. Win the race by any means possible - just smack the opposition out of the way.
After the disaster zone that was 'Pro-Street' I was wary about Need For Speed's shift to the racetrack.
Need For Speed had built up a rep with games like 'Carbon', 'Most Wanted' and 'Undercover' that were full of street racing as in the movie series 'The Fast And The Furious'.
Surprisingly, 'Shift' works and the gamer gets to do all those things that they would like to do on 'Forza 3'.

SPLIT SECOND VELOCITY
This is a game that goes extreme and coming from Disney Productions I could easily see a movie emerge.
Now this is billed for 7+ - I don't think so. Some of the tracks would be quite hard. Trying to race a track while a helicopter is firing missiles at your car - just one example.
Reviewer, Mike Channell of XBox 360 (the official XBox magazine) descibes the game as a combination of 'The Running Man' and BBC's 'Total Wipeout' - except that I don't recall four red balls; just the one big yellow wrecking ball.
I can see where Mike is coming from though I would have combined 'The Running Man' with Jason Statham's 'Death Race'.
Again quite addictive but the point of the game like winning cars and opening new tracks is lost when you realise that for 520 credits you can download the cars and tracks and unlock the lot. And this within hours of the launch of the game (21st May 2010).

All these games are available to play on-line.
Forza 3 seems to have a time zone problem - thankfully, I'm not the only one to notice this.
However, Split Second Velocity has a level playing field. So, spending 520 credits on the top cars is not going to help you win races. Being in front doesn't mean that that gamer is going to win. Nor does having the fastest car mean a win because you can still win if you have a lesser car. It all comes down to the game and how the gamer plays it.
Perhaps, this is where 'Split Second Velocity' comes into it's own - the unpredictability of other gamers. Real people rather than computer drawn cars where you know how the animated object is going to react.

Coming up: My introduction to gaming and the online community - and some interesting comments.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

2010-05-22T01:28:00.003+01:00

If anyone thought that Red Dead Redemption was going to be Grand Theft Auto with horses then they were way, way out.
Nor have the developers at Rockstar repeated the formula used with the original 'Red Dead Revolver'.
When I first saw the early stills and trailer I thought that the CGI cut scenes looked good. And cut scenes always come across that way and gameplay tends towards the cartoonish. With Red Dead Redemption this is not the case - the gameplay and the CGI work together producing great graphics.
Nor is this game of the usual shoot 'em up variety. No, the beauty lies in the detail. Simple things that add reality like hitching and un-hitching your horse. Sometimes you have to saddle the horse instead of just jumping on it as in other games. You have to draw the gun or rifle before you can use it and take time out to reload.
The story itself is in traditional mode.
When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down his former friends.
Not so easy as John Marston confronts his former friend and gang leader Bill Williamson. Marston tries to reason but Williamson guns him down. However, he is rescued by local rancher Bonnie McFarlane who helps him to regain his strength. Bonnie has her own problems as her ranch has been targetted by rustlers.
Now play on......
The game came out today and some of the on-liners that I know have given the game the thumbs up.

MEATLOAF: HANG COOL TEDDY BEAR

2010-05-19T07:13:00.003+01:00

Hollywood scriptwriter and director Kilian Kerwin wrote a short story called 'Hang Cool Teddy Bear' set against the background of the war in Afghanistan. The hero of the story is badly wounded and the only hope of rescue is if he can reach a nearby ridge. Somehow he summons up both the courage and the strength to do it but on reaching the goal has no strength to cry out. After firing a shot in the air he collapses and, in episodic form, his life with a girl called Jenny flashes through his mind.
Taking this story as a basis Meatloaf has made an impressive musical interpretation.
From the moment that the explosive pounding percussion opens the first track 'Peace On Earth' you get caught up in the futility of war and a soldier's wish to just go home.
On this album Meatloaf is joined by a host of stars - Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) who, also, co-wrote two of the songs; Steve Vai and Brian May. Jack Black duets on 'Like A Rose' and there is also a welcome re-union with Patti Russo. The biggest surprise comes with Meatloaf's duet with Kara Dioguardi on 'If I Can't Have You' where the pianist is the actor Hugh Laurie.
All in all I found this album up there with 'Bat Out Of Hell' and I can see this as a great concept for a live show.
While the album can stand on it's own two feet it was good to read the source material which can be found on line.
An album to 'hang cool' with.

WHEN THE COMICS WENT TO WAR

2010-05-17T11:13:00.004+01:00

In an age where war is real some would say that that there is no place for war stories in comics. So, it was good to find a book that put the history of the war story in comics into context.
The story goes back to 1855 with 'The Boy's Own Paper' and 'The Boys Of England' launched eleven years later. However, in 1879, Lord Shaftesbury was moved to comment that many of the stories in these and the penny dreadfuls of the time encouraged the growing street crime. The stories that emerged following those comments encouraged a turn towards the acts of heroism in war - most of the stories taking place on land and sea during the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars. Acts of derring do that encouraged young readers to join the Army and Navy of the time.
Many of the big names were to write these tales and included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, R.M.Ballantyne and G.A.Henty who was to edit 'The Union Jack' (1880).
With the advent of the Boer War more and more comics began to appear all with stirring tales.
For many years the comic stories came in prose form and the die had been set.
An interesting reproduction of a story from 'Chum' in 1913 carried a curious warning:
'NOTICE. - This story is not intended to stir up race hatred, but is written as a true picture of what would happen if a great Continental nation attacked our country." The story by Captain Frank Shaw titled 'The Swoop Of The Eagle' saw England at war with Germany almost a year before it became reality.
This book covers the history through to the demise of the comics in the 1990s with the death of 'Victor' and 'Eagle'.
But it brings back the heroes of our time. Biggles, Battler Britton, Rockfist Rogan, Braddock V.C., Paddy Payne, Sergeant Rayker, 'Sniper' Dennison and many, many more.
And the Deathless men of 'V For Vengeance'.
The adventures of 'Sniper' Dennison was one of my favourites. The writing was somewhat darker and the descriptions of combat very vivid. Through this book I discovered that the writer, Alan Hemus, actually trained as a sniper during the second world war.
The evolution from prose to picture stories are covered to the evolution to the 70s comics Warlord, Battle and Action comics.
Adam Riches with Tim Parker and Robert Frankland have put together a very informative book well illustrated with comic covers, with sections from both strips and prose.
The final chapter is a comic in itself with the complete reconstruction of a comic that covers the history of war comics - including a piece with the controversial Hellman.
For comic fans this is a must have.

ALAN WAKE

2010-05-14T19:05:00.003+01:00

14th May 2010 - a day that will live in - well, something or other.
But it has been one hell of a long wait for this console game to hit the - well, the console.
I seem to recall this title going around back to about 2005. It never materialised.
Even the promised 2010 release seemed to be going backwards. First it was going to be April and then back to the 21st May but, my guess, is that with the release of 'Red Dead Redemption' on the same day it was rushed to a week earlier.
So was all the hype worth the wait?
I do believe so.
It looks good and feels good - and a good game for writers.
That's the plotline - a writer wakes up in a lonely cabin in the woods only to find that he is a character from one of his own books that he has yet to write.
Confused? Well, there is a lot of time-shifting that the player has to keep up with but there you go.
Billed as a psychological thriller this has undertones of Stephen King. Yes, there are hints of 'Bag Of Bones' (the opening is a clue) and 'The Dark Half'.
One does go along with the media's idea that this is one of those 'must have' games and will, no doubt, top the charts for weeks to come.
Apart from the standard edition there is a Limited Edition that comes with a host of goodies. A Bonus disc that shows how the game was made. A CD Soundtrack and a dashboard piece of wallpaper. Also, the book of the game that makes for interesting reading.
All this inside a book cover.
As you can guess I have the Limited Edition and I think that with all the extras it proved value for money.
Available only on the XBox 360.

One thing to add. Many games have good soundtracks - 'Silent Hill' and 'Red Dead Revolver' come to mind. A soundtrack album issued with the game would be a good idea.

A RESULT! WESTERNS MAKE A COMEBACK

2010-04-29T00:01:00.003+01:00

Well the good news is that the good ole western is back on the shelves of a British store.
So there I was in our local branch of Waterstones when I just stopped dead in my tracks. Right there in front of me was a display of westerns. Not the greatest display but a display just the same.
After checking out the shelves I found more titles tucked away including Pete Dexter's 'Deadwood'.
So, let us give Waterstone's a great big hand.
Now, we just have to give W.H.Smith a wake up call.
And, yes, it goes to show that the Tainted Archive's Wild West Monday initiative does work.

A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS: Darke Bounty by Peter Averillo

2010-04-18T11:45:00.003+01:00

At the age of sixteen most kids are studying for their GCSEs; chatting on Facebook or their mobiles or taking time out playing on a games console. True to form Chantel was no differant to any other teenager yet she was adding another string to her bow as a writer.
In her own words writing was not at the top of her agenda - she did enough of that at school. Like many of her age she did keep a diary and dabbled in poetry writing.
So why attempt a western? And in an age when young people were unaware that the genre existed.

"The challenge. I took a book to school and found a boy who did read westerns. He had not heard of the writer but when I told him that it was about the way child abuse had affected the bad guy it raised a lot of interest among my friends. I mean the writer highlighted things that affect us in the modern way of life."

So, the story itself. Three men hold up a stagecoach driven by a female known as the breed woman. It is said that it is bad luck to hold her up and that proves true as a bounty hunter catches up with each of them.
A simple story but there is so much more within the prose.
A female bounty hunter - could such a person exist?

"Yes, such a person could have existed.
The internet has been a good place to go. First off, Charlotte Parkhurst better known as Charlie or Charley Parkhurst was a female stagecoach driver though she dressed as a man to do it. After her death stagelines did take on female drivers though they were just a handful.
Then there was Sarah Skull (or Scull) who shot down twenty three men. More than Billy the Kid. Add to the list Pearl Hart the stage robber and haulage wagon driver and Belle Starr who led a bunch of outlaws. Makes me wonder if Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane) did more than is attributed to her.
So along those lines a female bounty hunter like Morgana Darke could have existed - but, then, as the Sheriff Rick Blaine says 'what man's going to admit to be taken by a woman.'
But then again each character has their part to play and I think that it all comes across."

What was your ideas behind the creation of your character?

" I wanted to get away from the stereotype. You know, the woman who had to rely on a man to back her up. Read books like 'Lone Star' or 'Angel Eyes' series there's always a hero there. Nor did I want a character who was some kind of sex object. Something like 'Hannie Caulder' who does what she has to after the death of her mentor. A liberated woman who was not totally feminist. A survivor.
Morgana Darke, is also half Romany gypsy. Most times a gypsy turns up in a movie or a book then they are Basque gypsies. But there were Romany's who settled in South Carolina and Tennessee and some of those moved west. Their roots go back to the 1600s and were brought to America as prisoners on the transportation system. Many were horse traders."

Why did you write under the name Peter Averillo?

"Read the story and take a look at Morgana's last lines."

Australian Rules Football: ST. KILDA v COLLINGWOOD

2010-04-09T23:10:00.002+01:00

So there we were bacon sarnies in hand and a good supply of coffee savouring the atmosphere of the scene at St.Kilda's ground at Etihad Stadium.
The Saints were at the top of the league having won their first two games and were about to face off against the Collingwood Pies.
From the start it was a very physical game and the Pies looked determined as they opened up the scoring with one goal and a behind netting them 7 points. But the Saints hit back with two goals of their own and two behinds.
The first half was marred by an injury to forward Nick Riewoldt who was taken off with a suspected hamstring problem after a marking contest.
The first two quarters were tight and the Pies showed some real skill with passing and possession. Though scoring goals had problems. All through a game that swung the lead between the teams there was always a 3 point difference.
By the halfway point and an exciting third quarter that produced nothing of value it looked as though the Pies were going to win the match. It was during this third quarter that defender Sam Fisher was knocked unconcious. He returned to action half way through an exciting final quarter.
The Saints came on to the park looking as though they were the hungrier side to win the match and hammered home three goals in what seemed as many minutes. The Saints emerged as victors.
Final Score: St. Kilda: 10 - 9 - 69
Collingwood: 4 - 17 - 41

Blu-Ray: And The Point Is?

2010-04-05T13:13:00.003+01:00

Having an HD tv it was suggested that I invested in a Blu-Ray DVD player.
OK - so off I toddled and bought one along with a copy of the new '2012' Blu-Ray DVD.
Plugged it in and put in DVD but when I pressed 'Play' nothing happened.
At first, I thought, dodgy player. Then I thought maybe it was the DVD at fault.
So I checked the DVD on my son's player and he got the message 'Play Prohibited'.
But when he clicked the OK button on his remote we were up and running.
Yet, still no go on my own player.
Went to the troubleshooting section of the Instruction booklet - but no help there.
Right at the back there was a note in capital letters that (I've condensed this bit) explained that Blu-Ray discs were constantly evolving to the point that not all Blu-Ray discs will play.
So, it seems to me that both manufactures of these DVD players and the discs need to get their act together.

On the plus side - and there is one - when I shoved in a normal DVD like the newly released Spaghetti Western 'The Great Silence' I was gobsmacked by the clarity of the picture and the crispness of the sound quality.
In fact, the normal DVD looks just the same as the more expensive Blu-Ray discs. So when you see dust swirl around John Wayne's boots you see dust not a smoky dust cloud. But then this may be down to the fact that the picture you see is boosted to 1080ps (whatever that is).

I guess like all things new there are always plus and minus about them. I like things that do what they say they do but I won't be investing in any more Blu-Ray discs. I'd sooner spend my money on a film that plays just as good as one that costs twice as much that might not play on my player.

Friday's Forgotten Book: THE SENTINEL STARS by Louis Charbonneau

2010-02-25T23:55:00.003Z

The Sentinel Stars was published back in 1963.

Thomas Robert Hendley (aka TRH-247 because The Organisation prefers numbers to names) wakes up one morning and decides to go on strike.
East and West have merged and peace has broken out so our hero should be well and truly happy. After all he wears the blue uniform of a 3-day man working off his tax debt with a good job as an architect. He only has to work 3 days a week and everything he needs are right at hand. The Organisation supplies everything even down to his Assigned - a woman that the computers say is ideal for him. There is no intamacy as they live apart but are allowed one hour a week in a Public Intercourse Booth.
There is a target. The day that his tax debt is cleared he will be transferred to a Freeman Camp.
As he wanders around town he meets a young and beautiful red uniformed 5-day girl - they are attracted even though both know that they are transgressing the rules. As an architect he had worked on the design of The Museum where they meet up later in the day. Hendly takes Ann (ABC-331)to the forbidden zone where the sun is shining. He shows her what cannot be seen in the underground city. Agreeing to meet the next day they go their separate ways.
On his way home Hendley stops off for a meal only to discover that his ID tag does not work. As he arrives back at his apartment he is arrested and taken to the Morale Investigation centre. Here he is questioned by a fatherly Investigator about his failure to attend his workplace. When, under hypno-serum, he repeats what he has already said the Investigator gives Hendley a twenty-four hour pass to a Freeman Camp. Not as a reward but as a carrot to urge him on in his work for the organisation and to see just what it is that he has to look forward to.
On the flight to the Freeman camp he is subjected to prejudice for what he is and, though he understands their frustration, he cannot admit that he is one of them.
The Freeman camp is a wonder to Hendley but he soon learns that in this place there is just one rule - there are no rules.
He joins a game of water-polo where a team member is left to drown - winning is far more important. Nobody cares.
Then he meets Nik who befriends him and takes him to the Recreation Hall where there is a 'show' on. Hendley finds himself watching Ann performing an erotic dance. After the show there is a lottery where the winners with the selected ticket numbers get one of the girls. Nik fixes it so that Hendley gets to be with Ann, but his elation is short lived as he is drugged and his identity stolen.
Computers, he is told, do not make mistakes. The records show that Hendley had left the camp on time and that he must remain in the camp with Nik's identity. Escape comes in the form of another like himself. But his return lands him in Court with Ann on the charges of impersonation and rebellion. They are sentenced to permanent exile and released into the desert where they must survive.

It would be easy to say that this book could be compared to or influenced by novels like Huxley's 'Brave New World' or Orwell's '1984' and, maybe, justified. However, I think that this novel set in 2200 can stand alone. The use of uniforms creating a class system; Nik's need to escape the prison camp for Freemen - Nik was born free and berates Hendley about how lucky he was to have a purpose with a job whereas Nik had nothing to get up in the morning for; the lawlessness of the Freeman camp - is it the real alternative? Like, the cliche, is the grass really greener on the other side?
This is a book with a lot more depth than first appears.

While Louis Charbonneau wrote many sci-fi and general novels between 1960 and 1988 he wrote around 20 westerns under the name Carter Travis Young.

Forgotten Music: THE LEGIONS LAST PATROL

2010-02-24T22:31:00.001Z

Way back in '63 anyone who went to the movies in the UK to see 'The Day Of The Triffids' sat through a Stewart Granger B-movie called 'The Legions Last Patrol'.
This was a German/Italy/Spain co-production that was noticeable for just one thing - the theme tune.
In Italy it was a hit for Nini Rosso under the title Concerto Disperato which was written by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino.
In the UK it was the surprise chart for Ken Thorne and His Orchestra - with an emotional solo trumpet played by Ray Davies.
One thing that never appeared in the UK charts back in the early sixties were film themes but 'The Legions Last Patrol' reached No.4. A phenominal success then - but rather forgotten these days.
Except that I can still hear every note and whistle the theme - just as I did way back when I walked out of the cinema.
With all the compilations of film music around today it is just surprising that this theme has never been included.
If you have never heard this theme then it can be heard on You Tube and is now available to download on MP3.

THE LEGEND OF TORNADO TESS by Terrell L. Bowers

2010-02-23T22:18:00.002Z

Terrell L. Bowers and I have two things in common. We were born in the same year and our first Robert Hale Westerns were published in the same year.

The legend that is Tornado Tess is a dime novel heroine - the invention of writer A.J.Cole. Tess solves mysteries in the wild west, a place that the author has never been.
A letter from a fan asking for help changes all that as Amanda Jane Cole sets out for the outlaw fortress known as Little Babylon in the wastelands of New Mexico.
Also, heading there is Whitney Scott who is hunting down the men who killed his family, burned down the ranch and took the horse herd.
Travelling aboard the same stage Scott agrees to act as Amanda's bodyguard.
Little Babylon is a full blown town run on rigid rules that has it's own law. All presided over by Justin Dante Huntley - a man with a vision.
Although, Scott finds no one he knows in town, someone knows him and there are two attempts on his life.
Amanda goes on a mission to prove the innocence of a man.

This book is that good that to say any more would be like throwing out a fistful of spoilers. The main reason is that this book is so full of characters that the plot lines take a back seat and yet the story tells itself.
Terrell L. Bowers writes good books but 'The Legend Of Tornado Tess' is something else. It is like a combination of the way westerns were told with a dash of pulp and that something new that lifts this book above the norm.
If you only read one Black Horse Western this year, then this should be that book.
It is released at the end of this month.