Mike Linaker
is, like
me, a Brit who writes westerns. He’s written under various names, producing traditional
Westerns as RICHARD WYLER, creating and writing a pair of
successful Western series, Bodie the Stalker and Brand, under the name NEIL
HUNTER, and continuing the Frank Angel series as FREDERICK H. CHRISTIAN. In
addition, he's written a number of Mack Bolan novels, as well as contributing
entries to some of the Bolan spin-off series, and authoring the science
fiction/police procedural series Cade.
Mike, writing as NEIL HUNTER, began his series featuring Jason Brand, former army scout and deputy U.S. marshal, with GUN FOR HIRE. Brand has lost his deputy marshal’s badge due to perceived brutality and is now a bounty hunter. A wealthy rancher in New Mexico hires Brand to rescue his daughter from kidnappers. The pursuit leads Brand into Mexico and ultimately into a Rurales prison – ‘El Casa Muerte’ - the House of Death.
Rurales is Spanish for ‘rurals.’ This mounted rural police force was
founded by BENITO JUAREZ in 1861. Four corps, each with 20 officers and 255 other
ranks, were established. They were too few and poorly organised to effectively
control the banditry widespread in Mexico during the 1860s and 1870s. Following
his accession to power in 1877, President PORFIRIO DÍAZ expanded the Rurales to
nearly 2,000 by 1889. Initially some captured bandits were forcibly inducted
into the Rurales. Officers
were usually seconded from the Federal Army.
Rurales officer
The Rurales were heavily armed; carrying cavalry sabres,
Remington carbines, lassos and pistols. They wore a distinctive grey uniform
braided in silver, which was modelled on the national charro dress and included wide felt sombreros, bolero jackets,
tight fitting trousers with silver buttons down the seams, and red or black
neckties. They were variously described as ‘the world's most picturesque
policemen’ and ‘mostly bandits.’
Under Diaz, the Rurales became increasingly politicised,
as much an arm of repressive government as a law-enforcement force. They acquired
an image as a ruthless organization which – under the notorious ‘ley fuga’ - ‘law of flight’ –
seldom took prisoners, shot captives without trial or arranged to have them
killed ‘trying to escape.’ However, research by Professor Paul J. Vanderwood
during the 1970s indicated that the Rurales were
neither as effective nor as brutal as regime publicists had suggested.
Rurales execute prisoners
In the later years of the regime they were
increasingly used to control industrial unrest, in addition to the traditional
task of patrolling country areas.
The remains of the Guardia Rural were finally disarmed
and disbanded during July–August 1914, during the Mexican Revolution.
Historical evidence for bounty hunters in the Old
West is scant but they’re certainly popular in western fiction. They’ve been
portrayed by everyone from Randolph Scott in ‘Ride Lonesome’
to Clint Eastwood as the mysterious ‘Man with No
Name’ in the so-called ‘Dollar Trilogy.’
Steve McQueen came to fame as the bounty hunter hero of the TV series ‘Wanted Dead or Alive.’
A mission to rescue a woman held captive in Mexico made me think of the 1966 movie ‘The Professionals.’
Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Lee Marvin in 'The Professionals'
Reviews of GUN FOR HIRE:
‘Linaker spins a fine yarn here. Brand is a good, well-developed
character, not wholly sympathetic but enough so that the reader has no trouble
rooting for him… The prose is suitably gritty, dusty, and hardboiled, and the action
scenes, of which there are plenty, are excellent… It's a fast, very
entertaining Western novel.’
‘Very exciting situations… a good sense of humour.’
‘This is a fast action western with twist and turns. Well written… with
a great ending. I loved it.’
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