Tag: Western

DETAILS:
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 15, 2024
Format: eBook
Length: 327 pgs.
Read Date: October 10-14, 2025

What’s Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County About?

I had to return the book, so I can’t remember the name our protagonist starts out with (it’s probably historical record, but who has time for that?). Anyway, the lad who will assume the name William H. Bonney is a petty, naive, juvenile delinquent who gets thrown in jail for a night in a proto-Scared Straight move. He finds a way to escape, and not knowing he was supposed to be taught a lesson, assumes he’s a wanted fugitive and starts to live up to that.

He gets a little better at being a criminal, practically inadvertently becoming a murderer—which really does make him a wanted fugitive—and then he falls in with a gang, and everything goes south.

Basically, it’s Billy the Kid’s origin story. From neglected step-son to notorious killer and bandit.

So, what did I think about Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County?

Coleman talks about wanting to fill in a blank in Billy’s career. It’s not a period that we get a lot about (Young Guns and Young Guns II notwithstanding), so it’s a fertile ground for this kind of fiction. As that kind of thing, I think it works pretty well.

It’d be easy to walk away from this novel with the idea that Billy is someone in desperate need of affection—particularly parental affection. Both a mother-figure and a strong father-figure are really what he seems to be looking for, and it’s not getting them (or having them taken away) leads to his life of crime.

It’d also be easy to walk away from this book with the idea that Billy is desperate for a name for himself and is really only motivated by whatever’s compelling him at the moment. He’s practically Id unbound, an example of what can happen when poor impulse control is combined with someone with decent talent with a gun, a little luck, and a lot of charm (and, perhaps, a pretty shaky morality).

I’m probably not noting and/or am forgetting a few other interpretations of Billy that Coleman gives us. Those are just the ones that stuck with me.

In the end, however, the upheaval in this part of New Mexico can’t be laid at the feet of Billy, his allies, or most of his enemies. It’s about money—and bigger money than any of the characters that we spend most of our time with can imagine. I’m not an expert in Westerns—I’ve only read a handful over the last couple of decades, and another handful before that—but I don’t get the impression that it’s a common enough theme. I’m glad to see Coleman do that here.

I enjoyed the book. As I recall, it’s a better—and grittier—read than McMurtry’s Billy the Kid book (and I read that a couple of times). It captures the hardship of the West as well as the dreams most people had of the glories they all sought (mostly futilely) there, too.

It’s not necessarily going to drive me to seek out more Westerns in general—it’ll make me inclined to grab Coleman’s next read, whatever genre that ends up being.

And yes, despite not having listened to the album in decades, I had Jon Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory album running through the back of my mind while reading this. Readers of a certain age: you might want to make it easier on yourself and just pull it up to listen to while you read.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Opening Lines: Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County by Ryan C. Coleman

By HCNewton

On October 9, 2025

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Opening Lines, Quotations

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art and we all do judge them that way). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I like to throw it up here. I have 1.2 books to get through before I can read this one, but when I uploaded it to my e-reader tonight, I caught a glimpse of this and have had to remind myself of deadlines (and the need for sleep) so I didn’t press on.

Fort Grant, Arizona Territory
August 1877

He’d never killed a man. Didn’t know what it would feel like. Didn’t know if it would turn his insides out. Turn him inside out. He didn’t know if he’d lay awake long into the night, afraid of what may come in his sleep, in his dreams. He didn’t know if he’d forever be followed by that dark cloud, a harbinger of his soul’s inevitable damnation.

He’d find out though.

Turns out killing a man doesn’t change you.

It just reveals the real you.

from Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County by Ryan C. Coleman

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Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulsen: Death Doesn’t Stop this Marshall

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2024

In Literary Locals, Urban Fantasy, Western

Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1

by Brock Poulsen

DETAILS:
Series: Bizarre Frontier, Omnibus #1
Publication Date: October 20, 2021
Format: Paperback
Length: 349 pg.
Read Date: August 5-6, 2024

I hate dying. It usually hurts something awful and ruins my whole day. I avoid it whenever possible.

What’s Bizarre Frontier About?

This is a collection of the first three novellas in Poulsen’s Bizarre Frontier series. This series focuses on the adventures of the former Deputy Marshall, Willard Beckett. He didn’t always wear a “white hat,” back in his black hat days, he was cursed by a dying Romani woman. He can’t stay dead. He can die, he can go through all the pain and suffering before death—but he shakes it off after a little while.

As curses go, it’s not the worst, actually.

On Moths

In the first novella, we meet Beckett and learn about his, um, condition.

As any “retired” protagonist in a Western starts, Beckett is living alone, away from everyone else, self-medicating and merely existing. His wife divorced him, he lost the taste for the work (or so I assume, I don’t remember it being spelled out), and really doesn’t have much purpose in life. Until, of course, his old boss comes for help. It seems some brothers that he ran with are causing problems in a local mining town and they can’t be stopped.

The funny thing about that situation, those brothers were killed by the aforementioned Romani woman.

Hanged Man’s Boots

After finding out how those brothers got in the position where they could terrorize the town, Beckett and his ex-wife, Sue, learn that the man behind it all is cutting a swath of destruction behind him as he tries to escape justice. Can the pair stop him?

Husk

The big hook to this one comes from Willard not doing something I’d assumed he took care of in between novellas. And the fact that he didn’t made me roll my eyes pretty hard. Yes, he justified his lack of action to someone later in the novella—and it’s plausible, but I still don’t buy it. Still, without his being careless, we wouldn’t have gotten this story.

It begins with Willard going off to take care of the repercussions of his carelessness and Sue having to go rescue some of her sister’s sheep following a storm and her brother-in-law coming into close contact with a monster (or so he claims and not enough people believe).

Craziness and action ensue. And while the last novella brought the pair into contact with evil made stronger by the supernatural, this one brings them into some supernatural mayhem. It’s hard to argue which is worse

The Strangest Bit

For me, the thing that was stranger than Willard’s curse—or anything else he ran into—was the way he (and everyone else) called the woman who cursed him (and her family) Romani instead of that term that I grew up hearing. I’m not complaining about it—if I’m buying a Deputy Marshall who can’t stay dead for long, I can buy a degree of cultural sensitivity that is just as out of place.

It just took me a second to accept it. But honestly, I like the fact Poulsen made that choice, he didn’t need to.

So, what did I think about Bizarre Frontier?

These stories are light on the Western and heavier on the Urban Fantasy—which is fine with me, if you forgive the anachronistic nature of that. They’re Western enough to qualify, but by a hair—they remind me of the Bodacious Creed Zombie-Steampunk-Westerns in this way. (and actually fans of one of these series, should check the other out)

I wouldn’t mind a little more depth to each of these, but I don’t think they need much more. They work really well for what they are—quick, episodic, adventures with just enough of a tie between them to keep readers coming back (if you get them individually) or to carry you through the omnibus (if you go that way).

There’s a lightness to the prose that keeps it engaging and fun even in the midst of monsters, death, and mayhem. The action is smooth, the recurring characters are fun and I can see hanging out with Willard and Sue for quite a while to come. I’d like to see them deal with something that has no contact with anything they’ve encoutered yet—but if Poulsen keeps going down this path, I’m not going to complain.

I will be back for more as soon as I get a chance. It’d be nice if there was a second omnibus (I mention in case Poulsen reads this), but it looks like I’ll be picking up the novellas at my earliest convenience. I’d recommend you trying these yourself.

3 Stars

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Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate Kickstarter

By HCNewton

On February 25, 2022

In Books, Fiction, News/Misc., Steampunk, Western

I have blogged about the first two books in Jonathan Fesmire’s Bodacious Creed series over the last couple of years—they’re a great mix of Steampunk, Zombie fare, and Western. You really should look into them, but that’s not what I’m talking about today. Fesmire just launched the Kickstarter to publish the third book in the series, Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate, and I wanted to help spread the word.

Check out the video:

Look into the books, pitch in to help him pay for cover art and editing, and enjoy the weird Creedverse he’s creating. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Go kick that start.

Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake by Jonathan Fesmire: Steampunk’s Answer to Alex Murphy is Back in Action

By HCNewton

On January 7, 2022

In Steampunk, Western

Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake

by Jonathan Fesmire
Series: The Adventures of Bodacious Creed, #2

Paperback, 193 pg.
2021

Read: October 20-22, 2021

What’s Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake About?

Years ago, Bodacious Creed, was one of the most feared/respected/famous lawmen in nineteenth-century California—then he was killed, and somehow brought back to something like life due to some amazing technology, to become a super-powered force for good.

After his “resurrection” (for lack of a better term), he’s started repairing his relationship with his daughter and has taken on a new level of folk-hero status as he seeks to take down the criminal empire that controls too much of California—and was responsible for his near-death.

One night he rushes to the rescue of an escaped Chinese slave—but is too late, and as she dies in his arms, she gives him enough information to track down where she escaped from so he can find some justice for her. Implanted in her are mechanical parts not too dissimilar from those he’s been augmented with. The idea that women are having this done to them unwillingly (and for an unknown reason), is too much—so Creed sets his sights on bringing this done.

Creed sets out for San Francisco, finds new allies for his quest (think Team Arrow/Team Flash)—they’re a strange batch of scientists, thinkers, and community activists looking for ways to make a difference. THey’re also begging to have a series made centering on them. Between their resources and Creed’s dogged determinism, they’re sure to get to the bottom of things.

San Francisco of the time isn’t the nicest place—which is pretty much how it’s always fictionally depicted, I guess. It’s not quite Mos Eisley, but the odds of finding even a mostly honest lawman aren’t that great—so, Creed and his friends are largely on their own.

So, what did I think about Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake?

Like its predecessor, Jade Lake, is simply an entertaining read—just look at all the elements: Western, Steampunk, and Zombies*. Take three beloved and entertaining genres and put them together—sure, so many things could go wrong—but it’s hard to imagine how that’s not a crowd-pleaser.

* Okay, I know I’m not a huge Zombie fan—but almost everyone else is.

And it is, Fesmire tells a good adventure story. I don’t know what else to say about this, and I’ve tried. The Bodacious Creed series delivers what it promises: steam-powered action and adventure. With an enhanced coyote sidekick! How do you pass that up?

Disclaimer: I participated in crowdfunding efforts for this book, which might make me seem like I’m in the tank for this, but I just think of it as a very pre- kind of pre-order.

3.5 Stars