Herne the Hunter 3: The Black Widow

Herne the third

Herne the Hunter 3 can be found HERE in an all new eBook edition.

This was the third book in the western series that eventually ran to 24 novels between 1976 and 1984. These series was a part of the boom in paperback westerns that was kicked off by the incredible success of George G Gilman's Edge series. All of the books were very much influenced by the spaghetti western movies and followed a similar stylistic approach.

Herne book 3 completes the original storyline that first set Herne off on the vengeance trail.

When we first met Herne he was a peaceable man who only turned back to his guns when his wife killed herself, after being brutally raped and beaten by several men. Herne then took off after these men and three books later he finally puts the last of these men in the grave.  It's been great fun getting to this point, and at then end of this book Herne's future is left uncertain. The character has certainly developed over the three novels. The climax of this book, although brutal, does leave the character for some hopes of a future without violence, perhaps settling down with Becky, the daughter of a friend who has been with him throughout his long walk down the vengeance trail.

I really enjoyed this book and felt that it had just the right balance of the believable and the downright ridiculous. Some sections of the book are positively gothic  - the Black Widow character of the title, although not fully explored, means that the story is often moving away from Sergio Leone and towards Dario Argento. There are some truly perverse scenes in the book, but all the time the story is truly compelling and keeps the reader turning the electronic pages.

A snowy setting is used, a nod to Corbucci's classic spaghetti western, The Great Silence and the character of Whitey is obviously a borrow of Loco, the albino character played so effectively in Corbucci's movie by creepy old Klaus Kinski. In the book the character of Whitey is a strong point because it allows for the Herne character to regain some of the humanity lost in the previous two books. Initially Whitey is out to get Herne, but they end up working together to defeat an altogether greater enemy. I also enjoyed the development of the Becky character in this book  and it is unclear of how her relationship with Herne will develop over the next few books. Herne's initial feelings for her seem paternal but there are hints in this book that their relationship may become romantic. If there is one weak point in the story it is with the Black Widow character herself, - she is built up really well but her full potential is not fully realized. She does come to a suitable end but I found her to be such an interesting character that I expected so much more from her. Still minor niggles...a great read.

The Herne series has been out of print for many years but thanks to the excellent digital publishing house Piccadilly Publishing the books, as well as other excellent titles, are getting a new life on eBook. Check out Piccadilly HERE.

10 westerns you must read - seven

In order that my ten books selected give a broad overview of the western genre it is essential that I pick one of the books by the group of writers known as The Piccadilly Cowboys. They were a select bunch of writers churning out adult themed westerns during the seventies and eighties.

The most famous of all the books produced by these guys was George Gilman's Edge series but the Edge bookS have been looked on in great detail elsewhere on the Archive.

In fact - as with the Wyatt Earp movie choice - I'm going to cheat here and not pick any one title but tell you a little about the various series that were published during these times when every shop had a western section. Track down any of the titles and you are guaranteed a good, enjoyable, fast paced read.

Edge of course is the most well known of all the series but the author George Gilman also penned another series called Adam Steele which was equally successful. The author also did other series such as The Undertaker and one or two of the Jubal Cade's as well as The Apache series, but none could match the success of Edge and Steele who set the benchmark for all western series of the period.


All of the novels were the literary answer to the Italian school of super violent westerns with as much black humour as gun smoke and most were fast enjoyable reads.

Breed was a particular favourite of mind during my teenage years, coming only second to Edge as far as I was concerned. Breed was, you've guessed it, a half breed who was as useful with a knife as he was a gun.
The books sold by the truck load in the UK and yet only one or two of the characters are well know in America.



All are worth checking out - these are the British answer to the pulp westerns that were so popular in years gone by. It's well worth checking out second hand shops and online auctions for some of these titles. But before you get the collecting bug be warned, some of the books can fetch crazy prices - it is not unusual for the later Edge titles to go for triple figures.

Check out the PICCADILLY COWBOYS WEB SITE