Reading (and writing) Westerns

About six months ago, I decided that my next novel would, by necessity, be a Western. I’d never really had an itch before to experiment in that genre, but as the ideas and characters for it took form in my mind, I began to realize that it would only work as a Western.

I’d long been a fan of Western films, but when it came to reading Western fiction I was a total novice. If I was going to write one, I felt, I’d better damn sure make certain that I understood the genre better. And so, like a settler setting out on the long dangerous trail through Indian Territory, I saddled up and started off.

Here’s what I found along the way.

I read about eight or ten non-fiction books on the subject, the best of them being Dee Brown’s terrific and informative THE AMERICAN WEST. I highly recommend this book: it serves as a terrific launching point for further reading and gives you a clear understanding of chronology and themes that were central to the Western experience, from the perspectives of whites and Indians alike. And it was an absolute joy to read.

Exploring fiction, I read about 60 books total, from about 25 different writers, in that six month period. Here’s a round-up of the best of them—

Elmore Leonard. He’s a good place to start for the modern reader. Try VALDEZ IS COMING or THE LAW AT RANDADO.

Lewis B. Patten. His book DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER came recommended by Cullen Gallagher and Mike Dennis, two fellas who know what they’re talking about. And they were right.

Elmer Kelton. AFTER THE BUGLES and TEXAS VENDETTA were tightly written and compulsively readable.

Luke Short. VENGEANCE VALLEY knocked my socks off, and GUNMAN’S CHANCE was just as good.

James Reasoner. THE HUNTED and THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY were my introductions to Reasoner, who quickly became one of my favorites. Simply one of the best writers around in any genre.

Ed Gorman. Again, thanks to Cullen Gallagher. He sent me Gorman’s novel DEATH GROUND, a bit of hardboiled Western bravado that proved Gorman can do anything.

Loren Estleman. BLACK POWDER, WHITE SMOKE and THE BOOK OF MURDOCK are tight and fast Westerns that move as relentlessly as a steam engine.

…and a few things you should know:

I’ve never been a big fan of Robert Parker’s detective novels about Spencer, but at a friend’s recommendation I read APPALOOSA and was pleasantly surprised.

Edward A. Grainger’s two story collections about Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles were terrific, fast-paced actioners with heart and conscience.

SMONK, by Tom Franklin, was by no means a traditional Western, but I can’t remember the last time I had such bloody disgusting fun with a novel.

And—listen now, because this is important—if you haven’t read TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis yet, stop reading this and go get a copy and do it. Honestly, one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life.

And a bit of an addendum: Robert E. Howard's Western story collection, END OF THE TRAIL, is flat-out must-reading.

So the Western novel I started writing has taken a backseat in the meantime while I finish up some other projects. But I WILL get back to it within the next month or so, and it will be informed by a closer knowledge of the genre—which can only help.

In the meantime, I wrote my first straight Western short story a couple months ago, called “Blood Relations”. It appeared at Crime Factory.

“That Damned Coyote Hill” was a weird Western featuring a vengeful gunman called Hawthorne, up against bizarre creatures in the remote Arizona desert. There are more Hawthorne stories coming.

And, most recently, I wrote “Miles to Little Ridge”, a longish short story featuring Edward A. Grainger’s character Gideon Miles.

Am I forsaking crime fiction/noir/hardboiled? No, not at all. It’s just that circumstances have led to me putting on the Stetson and mounting up for a while. And I’ve found that writing crime fiction and writing Westerns (weird or otherwise) are not much different. It’s the exact same approach.

Except that Westerns require a bit more research…

For a Few Westerns More

About a month ago, I posted here about my new obsession with reading Westerns. It’s a genre that I’d been fairly unschooled in, which is odd considering that I’ve always loved Western movies.
But then I started hammering out the beginnings of a new novel, and realized it would only work as a Western. So I decided I’d best get more familiar with the genre.
I’m awful glad I did. Even if I wasn’t in the early stages of my own Western, I’d still be enjoying the hell out of most of these books. Here’s my first round-up of titles, posted a few weeks ago: A Fistful of Westerns… and here’s seven more.

Quincannon- Bill Pronzini
A tight, fast novel about U.S. Secret Service agent John Quincannon, a man haunted by a horrible mistake in his past and ravaged by booze. He comes to Silver City on the trail of a gang of counterfeiters, and gets caught up in a town-wide conspiracy that can only end in fast action and bloodshed. Pronzini is amazing at spare, clean prose, and has a knack for terrifically believable characters.



Vengeance Valley- Luke Short
Owen Daybright just wants to do right by Jen, a woman wronged by another man and left to raise her baby alone. But when Jen’s brothers show up, looking for revenge against the man they feel wronged their sister, Owen becomes the target. His misplaced sense of loyalty and obligation lead to ever-escalating danger, until the explosive climax. This is one of my absolute favorite Westerns so far—Luke Short wrote most of his books in the fifties, but this one still feels modern, with great characters and a story that just keeps getting more and more tense. I immediately went out and bought more Short after reading this one.



The Badge: The Black Coffin- Bill Reno
Dave Bradford shoots and kills three outlaws when they try to steal his horse, and the folks in town mistake him for his twin brother, Dan Starr. Dave goes along with it, thinking he’ll stick around just long enough to collect the reward money, but when more outlaws come gunning, Dave finds he’s bitten off more than he can chew. To make matters worse, the real Dan Starr shows up… This one’s pretty solid, although the characters occasionally behave in ways that don’t really work, and the pacing is a bit off in places.



True Grit- Charles Portis
A simply amazing book. Headstrong14-year-old Mattie Ross contracts drunken U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn to help her track down the man who killed her father. Along with a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf, the quarrelsome group pursues the killer and the crew he belongs to, and Mattie learns that “true grit” comes in a number of different forms. The voice of Mattie, the narrator, is entirely engaging and original, shot through with real depth and some surprising bits of humor. I highly recommend this book.



Appaloosa- Robert B. Parker
I’m not a big fan of Parker’s Spenser novels, so I came to this one a bit dubiously. It was actually great. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch take on the job of bringing law and order to the town of Appaloosa, which has been suffering at the hands of a sleazy cattle rancher Bragg. But the job gets more complicated when Cole—a normally stoic, emotionless sort—falls hard for the beautiful and complicated Allie, a woman with a relentless desire to be with the “top stallion”. The violence that follows puts both Cole and Hitch’s ethics to the test.



Shadow of a Star- Elmer Kelton
Young Jim-Bob McClain is trying very hard to make a good deputy, but after making a fool of himself in town trying to do his job, nobody takes him seriously anymore and Jim-Bob starts to doubt himself. Until a vicious bank robber comes to town and kills Jim-Bob’s best friend—and Jim-Bob is forced to face his fears alone and prove he can do the job. This is a terrifically-written novel, with a great deal of emotional depth and a solid moral center; the choices Jim-Bob has to make are of far more consequence than simply shooting someone. In fact, part of his test of manhood involves making sure a killer isn’t lynched. A richly rewarding book, this one. There’s more Elmer Kelton on my list now.

And finally…



Death of a Gunfighter- Lewis B. Patten
This one came highly recommended by Cullen Gallagher and Mike Dennis. It took a while to track down a copy, but it was worth it. Sheriff Frank Patch has been protecting the town of Cottonwood Springs for twenty years, so when the town decides they want him gone, Patch steadfastly refuses to step down. Turns out, Patch has the goods on many of them, and they live in fear that he’ll expose them. What follows is an ever-escalating series of violent encounters as the once-respectable townsfolk take matters into their own hands, with disastrous results. The sense of doom grows stronger and stronger with every page, as things spiral out of control, and the possibility of things ever being right again recedes farther and farther. There’s a lot of dead bodies by the time it’s over, but more importantly, there’s a lot of shattered lives. Death of a Gunfighter is a seriously hardboiled Western.

So that’s seven for now. I’ll have one more round-up in another month or so.

A Fistful of Westerns

A month or so ago, I started reading Westerns, going at it with all the weird obsessiveness that I normally display while pursuing a new interest. Like crime fiction, the Western genre is proving pretty diverse, and the level of quality has been all over the place… but I’m getting a pretty good sense of what I like, what I hate, and what I’m completely indifferent to.
Here’s some brief thoughts on my first seven forays into the Wild, Wooly West.

Valdez is Coming- Elmore Leonard
Yeah, I started with Leonard because I knew it would be great. How could it NOT be? Valdez is a lawman who gets zero respect, until enduring a violent public humiliation—that’s when he comes back, guns blazing, and shows them all what he’s made of. Lean and mean, hardboiled Western. I immediately ordered all his other Westerns on E-Bay, that’s how much I loved this one.

The Burning Hills-Louis L’Amour
Trace Jordan is running from some corrupt land-owners and lawmen, and trapped like a rat in the rolling desert canyons. But the baddies are about realize that when Jordan’s back is to the wall, that’s when he’s at his most dangerous… I was a good 60 pages into this one, thinking perhaps I’d made a mistake, because it wasn’t working for me. But then, out of nowhere, it all started to mesh and I found myself really enjoying it. I intend to read more L’Amour.

Border Guns-Max Brand
Laconic cowboy/gunman Weldon tries to protect a frail young woman from some dastardly types, but keeps getting distracted by a criminally-minded femme who lures him into bad behavior on the other side of the border. I can’t tell you much more, because I wasn’t paying attention for long stretches. Weldon, as a hero, is SO laconic as to be goofy, except when he’s suddenly bold and decisive out of nowhere. Can’t recommend this one, sorry…

The Hawthorne Legacy-James Reasoner
Judge Earl Stark hitches up in the town of Delgado to determine who inherits a thriving cattle ranch now that the owner has died under mysteriously violent circumstances. Two brothers seem willing to kill each other for the inheritance, calling in hired guns, and Stark has to stay alive long enough to solve the mystery. A fun, solid detective story masquerading as a Western, with great action and fast pacing. Loved this one.



The Widowmaker Book One: Invitation to a Hanging-Robert J. Randisi
Disgraced former lawman John Locke is hired to oversee the complicated arrangements of a hanging in a small Texas town, but the Mexican bandit slated to die has other plans— his gang awaits for the right moment to strike, all the while getting valuable intel from someone inside the town. The story builds steadily, with only occasional outburst of action, until the final, action-packed finale. Gripping story.

The Trailsman: Slave Hunter-Jon Sharpe
The Trailsman, Skye Fargo, is minding his own business when he’s forced to stop some KKK-types from hanging an old black man. Next thing you know, Fargo is neck deep in sexy women, for some reason, and I can’t tell you anything else because I gave up on this one after 50 pages or so. Apparently, Skye Fargo has never met a man who didn’t tremble in fear before him, and he’s never met a woman who didn’t want to immediately nail him. Goofy, cardboard cut-out characters and unlikely action scenes. Skip it.

And finally….

The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles-Edward a. Grainger
A top-notch collection of short stories about two lawmen who never let the law interfere with their sense of justice. Full review here.

So that’s the first round. In another month or so, I should have round two ready to go. Reviews of stuff by Loren Estleman, Zane Grey, Elmore Kelton, Robert P. Parker, Bill Pronzini, and others.
Happy trails.