Best of the West, Vol. 1: Classic Stories of the American Frontier (Western audiobook anthology)

Best of the West, Vol. 1: Classic Stories of the American Frontier is a 2009 audio anthology of classic and modern classic Western stories by a wide range of authors from Matt Braun to Zane Grey, from Will Henry to Elmer Kelton. Here are some highlights:

Author Gordon D. Shirreffs (Rio Desperado) is always good for a Western filled with complex characters and situations, and "Death Hires These Guns!" is no different. Reed Emmons is in the Mexican border town of Nogalles when he gets word that his brother Rance was killed by a backshooter. Of course, he wants revenge, but he has trouble getting a bead on the killer.

First, it's Burt Whitman, marshal at the Cottonwood seat, but the evidence is circumstantial. Turns out Rance was seeing Whitman's sister Aurelia. But when Reed goes in disguise and finds Whitman had nothing to do with his brother's death, will an extra complication make him go through with his plan anyway?

In Loren D. Estleman's "The Death of Dutch Creel" (also available in his Western collection The Bandit and Others), someone who was actually at the titular event (in a way) sets the record straight after seeing a particularly sensationalist "authentic" retelling at the pictures. Arte Johnson's reading emphasizes the wry humor.

Gary McCarthy tells the story of a frontier doctor, James Stanton, who needs to learn how to "Grab, Root, and Growl" if he's going to marry the woman he loves. On the cusp of ending their relationship, he gets his chance. McCarthy portrays another kind of "true grit" here, in having Stanton show that one person's definition of "quitter" does not suit everybody.

Trail Drive to Montana (Gunsmith #69) by Gary McCarthy writing as J.R. Roberts

Regular readers of this repository of reviews will likely know that I am a big fan of The Gunsmith, which is the only long-running adult Western series still primarily written by a single author under a pseudonym, in this case Robert J. Randisi under the moniker J. R. Roberts. However, he has not written all of them. Randisi stated in a 2007 interview with Saddlebums Western Review that his publisher early on wanted more books than he could turn out on his own. Thus, around 30 of the first 100 were contracted from other authors to fulfill the twelve-a-year quota.

Later, I learned from an interview on Western Fiction Review that author Gary McCarthy, who had written a book I had recently enjoyed called The Pony Express War, had been one of those writers. (He reportedly wrote four Gunsmith novels.) As I enjoy cattle-drive novels, I chose McCarthy's first for the series, Trail Drive to Montana, to see if I could detect a difference in styles.

Actually, it was easy. From page one of Trail Drive to Montana, I would at least have known that it was not from the usual author. Randisi has a fast-paced, easy reading style that utilizes punchy dialogue and short, sharp paragraphs. The first paragraph of this book has 20 lines of small text, and there's no real conversation for five pages. This is not a criticism of either style, merely an illustration of how different they are.

McCarthy shows you the whole picture, and this slows things down a bit compared to the norm for this series, but I must admit to the appeal of seeing ex-lawman and professional gunsmith Clint Adams being genuinely articulate instead of simply a man of action. Even the heroine remarks, "You got a fine way with words, Mr. Adams."

She is Mandy Roe, whom Adams discovers after her horse is killed and she is left stranded underneath it. Her father is Bart Roe, the former outlaw pardoned by the governor and now an innovative cattle breeder in his 80s, who still has as fiery a temper as ever. Or, as Clint says, "He's the craziest old son of a bitch I ever saw in my life." (Having a way with words means you sometimes get right to the point.)

The Roes need to drive their herd of special crossbreeds up to Montana, away from the vengeful Moffit clan, seeking revenge for a 25-year-old transgression. The Gunsmith, in no way a cowboy and actually quite proud of the fact, agrees to accompany them on the journey. Unlike typical Texas longhorns, who are known as "rainbow cattle" for the variety of their hues, the Roe herd is exceptionally uniform in size and color, selected for those attributes in the breeding process.

Dr. Thomas Thom, Bart Roe's brother-in-law and an equal partner in the breeding, makes a connection between the longhorns and Americans. As he puts it, "Crossbreeding almost always results in a more vigorous strain of beef. It accounts for much of the American drive and energy. You see, this country is the greatest bunch of crossbred people in the world.... We are not in-bred like many of the old-line European families. We have greater vigor. So does this herd."

McCarthy fills Trail Drive to Montana with the expected level of action (of both types), and an additonal level of description that makes for a richer read than the typical series novel. He is quickly working his way toward an entry on my list of favorite authors, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Further reading: For another adult Western series novel about a cattle drive, read Longarm on the Goodnight Trail. For other novels on the subject, Ralph Compton's Trail Drive series, starting with The Goodnight Trail, is also a winner. And of course, there's the epic of all Westerns, Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize–winning Lonesome Dove, which also centers around a trail drive.

The Pony Express War (Derby Man #4) by Gary McCarthy (Western series)

"[Thin people] are almost chronically weak ... because they don't eat enough nor do they appreciate the benefits of lifting things to improve their strength and courage." — from The Pony Express War

With his "Derby Man" series, author Gary McCarthy set out deliberately to create a protagonist who is the opposite of the traditional Western hero. A writer of so-called dime novels, Darby Buckingham makes his living with his mind. He is also quite a bit overweight (a source of family pride), and he can't ride a horse very well.

He has, however, retained his prodigious strength (and fists like iron) developed during his time as a circus strongman. The circus traveled the world, and Darby began to write about his journeys. These stories sold well, and, emboldened, Darby tried to write a Western, soon finding himself a new career.

But Darby doesn't like to take orders. So, even though he had decided to write about the beginning of the burgeoning Pony Express, when his publisher makes the same suggestion, he nearly refuses to do it. Until Darby realizes that another writer would undoubtedly attempt to tackle the same topic, and that he is the only one who could do it justice.

And so, derby hat perched on his head, he boards a stage for Nevada. There he finds a brace of enthusiastic individuals set on making history. Unfortunately, the route heads right through Indian territory, and though Chief Numaga of the Paiutes wants only peace, some disrespectful whites and quick-tempered braves can make the traveling difficult for all, and an all-out war is in danger of starting. There are those who would rather the Pony Express never completed a run, and they were not above rape and murder to make sure of it.

Author Gary McCarthy has done a remarkable job combining history and fiction. The Pony Express War is never less than entirely authentic, even as his hero's prideful nature keep a smile on the reader's face. Many of the characters, in fact, are real people, including Pony Express superintendent Bolivar Roberts and inaugural riders Warren Upson and Bob Haslam. And of course Chief Numaga and the Paiute Indians really did object to the line's crossing their territory.

McCarthy has written nearly 100 novels, some under his name and others under pseudonyms. He collaborates with author Frank Roderus under the name "Gary Franklin" and has also written for the Westerns series The Gunsmith, Lone Star, and Longarm. McCarthy won the Spur Award for his novel The Gila River, part of the Rivers West series created by Jory Sherman.

Darby Buckingham is a charming blowhard with numerous quirks. The man loves his food with a Nero Wolfean intensity. But he never shies from a fistfight, and he has a deeply ingrained sense of right that makes him simultaneously admirable and amusing. The Pony Express War was a lot of fun, and I'm already looking forward to reading some more of his adventures, and McCarthy's other novels.