AUTHOR FAVOURITES: VAMPIRE SIEGE AT RIO MUERTO by JOHN WHALEN

Alongside film reviewing John Whalen (writing as John M. Whalen) is the author of ‘hybrid’ novels where the western meets the future, or the cowboy hero is just as likely to encounter vampires or monsters as regular bad guys.

One of his favourites of his own novels is VAMPIRE SIEGE AT RIO MUERTO.

John tells me bounty hunter Mordecai Slate is modelled on the characters LEE VAN CLEEF played in movies like FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. Except, as Mordecai states: ‘Hunting monsters is my business.’

A New Mexican ranchero hires Slate to track down the vampire who ravished his daughter. Don Pedro Sanchez wants Kord Manion brought back alive, so he can drive in the stake himself.

Slate captures his prey and comes up with an unusual way to transport him back to Sanchez. Kord’s brother, Dax, and his gang of vampire outlaws pursue. During the chase, Slate rescues a girl and has to get her out of harm’s way.

The climax in a desert ghost town, Rio Muerto, is like THE WILD BUNCH with the addition of vampires!

WILLIAM HOLDEN in ‘The Wild Bunch’ (1969)

Vampires turn up out west as early as 1959 in CURSE OF THE UNDEAD.

‘Curse of the Undead’ (1959)

The Gorch Brothers of ‘Wild Bunch’ fame re-surface as vampires on TV in the ‘BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER’ episode ‘Bad Eggs.’

A ghost town shoot-out reminded me of western movies YELLOW SKY (1948)

and THE LAW AND JAKE WADE (1958)

RICHARD WIDMARK in ‘The Law and Jake Wade’

And aliens (spiders this time) also assault a ghost town in the classic ‘OUTER LIMITS’ episode ‘The Zanti Misfits.’

Reviews of RIO MUERTO:

‘As weird westerns go, this one is an instant classic…. If you're a fan of spaghetti westerns or Hammer horror films, this book is for you.’

‘A dandy yarn, a Western-horror mashup that could shoulder up to Stephen King and Louis L’Amour with equal comfort, and yet maintain stature as a creature all its own… Whalen doesn’t drop the reins of either genre: There are gunfights and fangs, wagons and coffins, townfolk and bloody necks, and one fast-paced tale that doesn’t turn in directions the reader might expect.’

‘A rip-roaring tale to be sure and - as usual - something more. …the author achieves yet a new pinnacle of genre-bending suspense…his cagey knack for fleshing out characters that may at first seem cliche is especially notable…. the novel rolls out like a particularly gripping film.'

Find it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Siege-at-Rio-Muerto/dp/1495379922/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1496497543&sr=1-1

AUTHOR FAVOURITES: THE BOUNTY HUNTERS by MARTYN MARAIS

Martin Marais (writing as Martyn) is like me a Brit writing westerns. He tells me a favourite of his own books is his first, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS.

Michael ‘Tidy’ Callaghan isn’t your average bounty hunter. On arriving at Wellhead, Tidy’s well-trained nose picks up that there might be some trouble brewing in this one-horse town. His cousin-cum-ex-partner Scully arrives on the scene, disguised as a priest and clearly up to no good.

Then Tidy encounters Brett Maverick, casing the bank and alarms bells start ringing. 

With the clock ticking, Tidy only has a small window to discover what Scully’s up to and investigate the true identity of Maverick and what he’s planning before all hell breaks loose. Can Scully and Tidy forget their troubled past and join forces, or is Scully mixed up in the same business as Maverick?

Historical evidence for western bounty hunters is slight, (I’ve blogged before about prototype bounty hunters like TOM HORN and CHARLES SIRINGO) but they’re certainly popular in western fiction!

Naturally the plot, a few bounty hunters turning up in the same remote community, clearly in competition with each other, made me think of Sergio Leone’s ‘dollar’ trilogy, particularly FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE.

Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in ‘For a Few Dollars More’

That one of the bounty hunters is tracking down seven men brought to mind 7 MEN FROM NOW.

Lee Marvin and Randolph Scott in ‘Seven Men from Now’

Brett Maverick, of course, was the character played by JAMES GARNER in the TV Western series ‘Maverick,’ (19557 – 1962) - when his name was spelled Bret – and its spin off ‘Bret Maverick’ (1981-82.) The show was atypical of TV Westerns of the time in being often comedic and tongue-in-cheek. Its varying leads were a collection of brothers and cousins who made a living as Old West gamblers, and, whilst likable, were not notably heroic. James Garner’s Bret Maverick has sometimes been described as the first TV anti-hero.

In 1994 these shows spawned a movie ‘Maverick’ where MEL GIBSON played the lead.

Reviews of THE BOUNTY HUNTERS:

‘Martin Marais has such an easy and fluid writing style… captivating and entertaining story.’

‘Interesting characters and an ingenious plot keep you reading…a fresh take on the story of the bounty hunter.’

‘Enthralling first novella from an exciting new author… near impossible to put down.’

https://www.amazon.com/Bounty-Hunters-Hunter-Book-ebook/dp/B01MPXMVU5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&dpID=51HBQpRydHL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=detail and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bounty-Hunters-Hunter-Book-ebook/dp/B01MPXMVU5/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531297060&sr=1-1&keywords=the+bounty+hunters+martyn+marais

AUTHOR FAVOURITES: JUDGE ON THE RUN by CLAY MORE

Keith Souter, writing as Clay More, is, like me, a Brit who writes westerns. He’s not afraid to mix genres, as in WANTED DEAD OR REVIVED, which mixes the western with steampunk! (And maybe a little bit of the vampire novel.) He tells me he has 2 joint favourites of his own work, one of which is JUDGE ON THE RUN.

Wesley Talbot is the youngest judge in the territory and a highly-respected one. So why does he adopt the identity of wanted desperado Diamond Jim Chance and go on the run? What dangers lurk in a hidden canyon in the Pintos Mountains? And who is the real mastermind behind a gang of vicious killers?

Meanwhile the ruthless bounty hunter known as The Deacon is on the judge’s trail, after the judge hung his brother. The climax is a gunpowder-laced showdown in the church of a small Mexican village.
 

Judges have rarely featured as action heroes in westerns, although Joel McCrea did in STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955.)

As the story involves bounty hunters and a Mexican village I had to image Steve McQueen in both ‘WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE’

and ‘THE MAGNIFICENT 7.’

The Deacon character reminded me of Lee Van Cleef in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. 

Meanwhile here’s 2 of the Old West’s most notorious judges:

JUDGE ROY BEAN, (c. 1825 – 1903) the self-styled ‘Law west of the Pecos,’ who, it appears, only hung 1 man

and

JUDGE ISAAC PARKER, (1838- 1896) the ‘hanging judge’ of the Fort Smith gallows, who hung 79.

A 5 star review of JUDGE ON THE RUN says you’ll love it ‘If you like westerns, and suspense.’
Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Judge-Run-Clay-More-ebook/dp/B00BN0ZCDG/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481442494&sr=1-1&keywords=judge+on+the+run+clay+more