The author contemplates......

 

Contemplating

 

Massacre at Red Rock

Just released in hardcover and eBook from Black Horse Westerns. Massacre at Red Rock is my eigth book written under the pen-name of Jack Martin.

Liberty Jones is tired of war - he fought hard in the Civil War, saw great suffering and endured much himself. Now all he wants is to be left in peace, but trouble has a way of finding him. He rides into the town of Red Rock to escape a marauding tribe of Indians, but any hopes of safety he may have held are soon dispelled. For the town is under military command and facing a gathering of great Indian tribes who are determined to drive the people from the town and reclaim their land. Liberty, along with a rag tag band of townspeople, must face impossible odds and soon blood will run deep in the streets of Red Rock.

The book is available in both hardcover and eBook, and if you are looking for a damn good adventure novel then you won't go wrong...mind you I am biased.

The Man is out there

My current western - available now

Afterlife Slim McCord - Exclusive extract

The Afterlife of Slim McCord-my newest western is out in hardcover this November from Robert Hale's Black Horse Western imprint and is available for pre-order from Amazon, The Book Depository and Robert Hales own website now. My previous titles have all been quick sellers and pre-ordering is the best way to be sure you'll get a copy on publication day.

It's my most out there western and I'm eager to see what my readers think of it. It's got all the traditional elements that have made my previous westerns so successful, but it's got a twist in that the main character is dead for most of the novel and the narrative doesn't rely on flashback scenes to propel the story.

Below is an exclusive extract7

‘Shot in the back,’ the barker yelled. ‘Ain’t no lawman who could have taken Mad Slim McCord face on.’

‘You sure got that right,’ Clay Blackman offered a nickel but the barker held up his hands, palms forward.

‘No, no, old timer’ he shook his head vigorously. ‘Not me, give it to him.’

‘Him?’

‘Sure,’ the barker smiled. ‘Put it in his mouth. He’s the one you’re paying to see and it’s only right he takes your money.’

‘In his mouth?’

‘Sure, he’ll gobble it right up.’

Blackman frowned. It seemed a particularly gruesome thing to do but nevertheless he pushed the coin between his dead friend’s lips. He winced as his fingers brushed the dry, almost abrasive tongue.

Strange but McCord didn’t even look dead, propped up as he was against a wooden frame, more like he was sleeping on his feet. The preservation was incredible, and the dead man’s skin, although cold and leathery, seemed to glow with vigour. His eyes of course were glass; Blackman knew that because Slim’s eyes had been a pale grey, rather than the vibrant blue that now stared sightlessly into an unfocused distance. One of the eyes had also been placed at an irregular angle, which gave Slim something of a cock-eyed appearance.

‘How’d he end up like this?’ Blackman wasn’t aware that he had given the thought a voice.

‘Well now,’ the barker rubbed his chin, as though considering his reply rather than going into a well-practised sales pitch. ‘Was a time Mad Slim McCord was one of the most feared man in the West. He terrorised the badlands and sent many a lawman to an early grave.’

Blackman smiled at that. As far as he knew Slim had never been much of a killer, he hadn’t liked killing, and would avoid doing so whenever it was possible. He tended to scare folks with a dazzling combination of skilful gunplay, which was often all it took. One time, Blackman remembered, Slim had shot a sheriff’s hat clean off his head and then plugged it twice more as it spun through the air. After that the lawman hadn’t been any trouble to them and they had been free to go about their unlawful business.

‘The fact that he lived as long as he did is testament to how successful a bandit he was,’ the barker continued. ‘But McCord’s luck ran out one day down in Santino when a lawman recognised him from an old wanted poster and shot him in the back. Just like that. No warning and a bullet in the back.’

‘Long way from Santino to here,’ Blackman said.  ‘How’d he end up here?’

‘You see no one claimed the body,’ the barker said. ‘And so the undertaker, figuring he could profit from such an infamous outlaw, decided to embalm the body in preserving solution made of arsenic and strong spirits.’

‘And you bought him?’ Blackman looked the barker directly in the eyes.

The barker nodded, proudly.

‘He’s been dead close on seven years now and looks as if he could have been shot this very morning,’ the barker said. ‘The undertaker had to remove a lot of his innards you know, stuff him back up with sawdust and the like, but that’s a darn fine preservation job, darn fine.  American craftsmanship at its best.’

‘You bought the body to turn a profit?’ Blackman found that the most tasteless thing he had ever heard.

‘Sure did,’ the barker said. ‘And I charge a nickel a view. That’s what’s called the entrepreneurial spirit operating in a free market. God bless America.’

‘Guess he sure ain’t gonna’ choke on that nickel,’ Blackman said.

‘We only here one week in Possum Creek,’ the barker said with a broad smile. ‘Be sure to tell all your friends.’

Immediately another man entered, holding his nickel out between a thumb and forefinger. There was a queue of at least fifty people outside the tent waiting for a chance to see the dead outlaw. Slim had never been that successful an outlaw, Blackman recalled and guessed that he was making more money dead than he ever had alive.

‘I hear he’s been preserved with a paint made of strong whisky,’ someone in the crowd said as Blackman pushed through and made his way to the saloon.

                                              *

The story continues in The Afterlife of Slim McCord by Jack Martin available for pre-order now. 

       

How Simon Templar became involved with an odd little Welshman

Hodder's Mulholland Books are in the process of reissuing all of Leslie Charteris's Saint novels in both print and eBook, and together with the forthcoming pilot for a new TV series based on the character it means that 2013 is shaping up to be a most Saintly year.

The Saint or Simon Templar was created way back in the 1920's, and like a select few other fictional characters has achieved true immortality - the character is reinvented for successive generations. I first became aware of the Saint from the reruns of the Roger Moore series in the 70's, and a decade later  I tuned into the Ian Oglivy revamped series. Of course I soon discovered the Saint's rich heritage - the old movies with George Sanders, Louis Hayward or Hugh Sinclair in the title role. It was these movies, far grittier than the TV series that set me off on a quest to read the original books.

The first Saint novel I read was The Saint in New York, and I remember on the first reading (I've read it several times since) being blown away. The fact that the book was so hard-boiled was a revelation  From there on I was hooked, I became a member of the Saint Club and started to pick up every Saint novel I could find. And later still I discovered the old radio series via Old Time Radio Web sites.

I guess you could say I'm something of a fan.

"Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s participation were published in 1997. The character has also been portrayed in motion pictures, radio dramas, comic strips, comic books and three television series"

Last year Hodder's new imprint Mulholland Books started reissuing the entire Saint series of Saint novels in both eBook and Print format. Looked over by Ian Dickerson, president of The Saint Club and close friend of the late Leslie Charteris, the books are handsome editions with all new artwork featuring that oh so familiar stickman.

On June 20th this year The Saint in New York will be reissued with an all new introduction by a certain Gary Dobbs. I am thrilled and incredibly honoured to have been given the job of writing the intro - it makes me a small part of the character's rich heritage. I feel as if I've been bestowed with a sainthood.

Saint Gary Dobbs - ahh well, perhaps not.

So remember - watch out for the sign of The Saint - he will be back!

Bestelling Black Horse titles: Amazon charts 21 Nov 2012

It's good to see my latest novel holding the top spot for the fourth week running - Wild Bill Williams is available now and offers a new kind of western hero. He's the fastest stitch in the West and although useful with a gun he's certainly quicker on the jaw - old Bill never stops talking, and he's yapping up a storm in Wild Bill Williams.

The charts are:

1 -Wild Bill Williams (Black Horse Western) by Jack Martin (31 Oct 2012

2-Old Guns (Black Horse Western) by Morton Ross (30 Apr 2012)

3-Dollar a Day (Black Horse Western) by Chuck Tyrell (30 Mar 2012)

4-Range of Terror (Black Horse Western) by Billy Hall (30 Mar 2012)

5 -The Hired Ace (Black Horse Western) by Clay Starmer (31 Oct 2011)

6-Gunhawk (Black Horse Western) by John Long (31 Aug 2009)

7- Viva Reaper! (Black Horse Western) by B. J. Holmes (29 Mar 1996)

8 - A Far Country (Black Horse Western) by G.T. Dunn (30 Nov 2001)

9 -Death in the Canyon (Black Horse Western) by Jim A. Nelson (Apr 1997)

10- Death of a Gunfighter (Black Horse Western) by Lewis B. Patten (30 Jun 1995)

Pimping my book again - well, someone's got to

Official records show that some 80,000 Welshmen made their home in the place now known as the Wild West, though the true figure is likely to have been much higher. This is the story of one of those men. William Williams, otherwise known as Wild Bill Williams, is no stranger to trouble. It seems to follow him like a shadow. But even as a survivor of the Little Big Horn, as he claims, he has never before had to face the kind of trouble that he finds in the town of Stanton. When the bullets start to fly and the blood begins to run, Wild Bill is never far behind -


"WILD BILL WILLIAMS, the new novel from Gary Dobbs writing as Jack Martin, delivers to us a marvelous new character. Had a fine time with this one, reading it in a single setting." Not the Baseball Pitcher review

 

Bill's first review

The first review of my new novel, Wild Bill Williams is posted HERE

Q and A with Jack Martin creator of Arkansas Smith

Today Arkansas Smith finally goes on sale in the new fangled eFormat, which means that the hardcover bestseller is available for Kindle and other eReaders, or of course it can be read on your computer screen, phone, tablet...whatever. I'm pleased to see the book made available on eBook at such a great price - I've always believed this book deserves a wide audience - you see the book was originally published in a handsome hardcover edition from those wonderful people at Robert Hale, but the fact is that the books are primarily intended for the public library and are made to be durable to survive multiple readings. This is great but the hardcovers are expensive.

Now to step back through the years a moment - when I first started reading westerns, and that was a heck of a long time ago, you could find western paperbacks in most bookshops, but these days it's hard enough finding a bookshop let alone a westerns. And so by making the book available electronically we can replicate the days of cheap mass market westerns. eBooks never need go out of print and so the sales potential is without boundaries, and I do hope a great many of you will shell out just a couple of pounds for Arkansas Smith - I think I can guarantee a good read and a few hours of pleasure.

Check out the reviews below and click on the image of the eBook cover and you'll be taken to Amazon where you can read a sample before buying. You really can't go wrong.

And don't forget to read on for the Q & A with Jack Martin.

From Joanne Walpole/ Terry James - This is by far one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. Jack Martin (aka Gary Dobbs) brings together stereotypical Old West characters, scenes and backdrops and infuses them with a life of their own. His descriptions give you enough information to form a picture without going into overload, his dialogue is obtuse (a good thing, in my opinion, and rare), his fight scenes are precise and clear. I also enjoyed Jack's turn of phrase and the humour peppered throughout the pages. It left me with a satisfied smile on my face.

From western fiction review - writing is confident and moves at pace, the story building up nicely to its final shoot-out. Smith is not the only memorable character, Rycot being one of my favourites. And for those in the know, Gary also tips his hat to a few other Black Horse Western writers by having characters named after their pseudonyms - he even mentions himself - which I felt was a fun touch.

The book is easy to read and difficult to put down, and left me eager for more tales about Arkansas Smith.

From Laurie Powers Wild West - There is a sadness about Arkansas Smith that I found unsettling and yet compelling. He has a "void deep inside himself that felt on times like a cavity in his soul. It was a need for identity that would always be there and would never be fulfilled." He's a man of few words and when he smiles, it's a grim smile that hints at a lot of tragedies played out in the past. He is an enigma who keeps his personal history to himself and who doesn't offer up too many explanations. While we are caught up in the dilemma at hand, we are never allowed to forget that we are dealing with a mysterious man here who has a few bones to pick with the world. In the post-modern world, he would be diagnosed as clinically depressed. In the 19th century western, though, he's simply trying to deal with the hand that's been dealt him.

So I do hope the reviews make you yearn some western adventure and that you take my hand and let me lead you into the Old West.

Now, I suppose, all writer are a little schizophrenic and so the following interview was conducted by myself and with myself - Gary Dobbs talks to alter ego, Jack Martin.

Q&A With Jack Martin

Q -Why does a Welshman write westerns

A- I've always been passionate about the genre, ever since being introduced to it as a very young child by my grandfather. His name was Jack Martin by the way and when I started writing westerns it seemed natural to adopt his name. It's a kind of tribute to a man who meant so much to me  and a man whom I still miss.

Q- You've long championed eBooks. Why?

A: Well it is like I say - one time westerns were available everywhere but these days it's hard to find any in British bookshops, and I don't believe the situation is any better in the US. And not just westerns but a whole selection of genre fiction has all but vanished. I've always believed that when eReaders went mainstream  the type of books we used to read will come back and indeed have started to come back. I think the Kindle is the single most important development in popular reading since the invention of the paperback.


Q - So who is Arkansas Smith?

A - Ha ha - I'm not sure if I know, but readers will be able to explore the character now that the eBook is available and hopefully by the end of the book many of their questions will be answered, but also there should be enough left to bring them back again.

Q- So update us on all that's happening in Jack Martin World.

A - Well I'm still hoping that the film version of my novel, Tarnished Star will get off the ground. The project is currently with talented director, Neil Jones of Burnhand Films and although things are a little bit uncertain in the film business at the moment, I firmly believe this project will lift off soon. The film will be called LawMaster and I know Neil will deliver a great western. On the fiction front, my fourth hardcover will come out from Robert Hale this October. It's called Wild Bill Williams and I really don't believe there's ever been a hero like Bill Williams in all western fiction. I've got a few other projects on the go and  have also got to put on my Vincent Stark hat and give my attention to a few projects that have stalled due to a massively increased workload this year.

Arkansas Smith is out there now
Wild Bill Williams in print this October

There was nary a frown when Wild Bill Williams was in town. He had a way about his manner that enabled most folks to forget all their troubles and become positively festive. It was said that Bill could start off a dance at a funeral and carve a grin out of the most granite of faces. 

Ten days and counting...

Arkansas Smith holds the top spot

For the second week in a row the forthcoming eBook edition of Arkansas Smith, my second western for the Black Horse Western range, is sitting at the top of the Amazon charts. And that's on pre-orders alone since the book won't actually be available for download until the end of this month.

Click on the image to pre-order your copy - no monies will be deducted from accounts until the download hits your Kindle. The book is also available on other eFormats from online sources.

It sold in hardcover for £13.99 but is available on Kindle for only a couple of pounds or bucks depending on where in the world you live.

From Joanne Walpole/ Terry James - This is by far one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. Jack Martin (aka Gary Dobbs) brings together stereotypical Old West characters, scenes and backdrops and infuses them with a life of their own. His descriptions give you enough information to form a picture without going into overload, his dialogue is obtuse (a good thing, in my opinion, and rare), his fight scenes are precise and clear. I also enjoyed Jack's turn of phrase and the humour peppered throughout the pages. It left me with a satisfied smile on my face.

Amazon charts for week ending 2 April 2012

1. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (30 Apr 2012) - Kindle eBook
Available for pre-order £2.74

2. The Black Horse Westerns by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (1 Jan 2011) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £6.86

3. Gunhawk by John Long (31 Oct 2011) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £2.74

4. Arizona Pay-Off by Duke Patterson (31 Oct 2011) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £2.74

5. Dead Man's Range by Paul Durst (31 Oct 2011) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £2.74

6. The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent (31 Oct 2011) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £2.74

7. Bad Moon Over Devil's Ridge by I. J. Parnham (29 Dec 2006)
From £0.01

8. Darrow's Law by Gillian F. Taylor (26 Mar 1999)
From £0.01

9. Apache Ransom by Jeff Sadler (31 Oct 2000)
From £0.01

10. Two-Gun Trouble by Gillian F. Taylor (29 Feb 2012) - Kindle eBook
Available for download now £2.74

Delta Rose arrives

The official publication date is July 29th, but I just received my package of complimentary copies from my publisher this morning. As with all of their titles, Delta Rose is a fine looking little hardcover. I'm especially pleased with the cover painting to this one - the ageing figure, a thoughtful look on his face, in the image perfectly represents the feel of what is a contemplative western.

As I say it's officially published on the 29th but Amazon and other book sellers usually ship the books a week or so early, so pre-order now and you'll be reading the book in no time.

THE BALLAD OF DELTA ROSE: After more than twenty years of living a life on the road, Delta Rose returns to the ranch he once owned with his fiancee, Etta James. A bullet wedged close to his heart has dealt Delta the dead man's hand. He soon discovers Etta has a secret: they have a son who, by now a young man, is in trouble. He is charged with both robbery and murder. Can Delta redeem himself for a past ill spent and save the life of the son he never knew he had?

D Day for Delta

From the website of Jack Martin

Where do you get your ideas?

That question is asked of all writers at one time or another, and the answer is never really simple. Ideas come from anywhere and at any time, but with my July hardback, The Ballad of Delta Rose I can trace the genesis of the idea back more than thirty years. I'm not saying I've carried the idea around with me all this time (thought it could have been stewing at the back of my mind, alongside my desires for Angelina Jolie, all that time. Who can say?) but the thing that influenced the most important aspect of the novel was a story in a comic book I used to read as a kid. That story was called D-Day Dawson and it told of a character called Steve Dawson who was injured on the 6th June 1944 during the Normandy Beach Landings. Dawson survived the injury but was left with a bullet lodged too close to his heart to be removed and, knowing that one day the bullet will kill him, he vows to keep his injury secret and fight on.


And fight on he did, taking more and more outlandish risks to keep the men who fought alongside him safe. Dawson was forever getting dizzy turns or temporary paralysis as the bullet inside him shifted yet closer to the heart, but he always managed to pull himself together in order to save the day. In one story from October 1975 Dawson thinks, "I've had another warning today that I'm not coming out of this war alive." In another story Dawson, convinced that he only has moments to lives, storms a German machine gun nest single handily. He did however live to fight on for another few dozen or so issues.

There was something heroic about this man who had nothing to lose that appealed to us schoolkids. He was the ultimate soldier since he didn't fear death and was in many ways already dead.

The story was a favourite of mine and it ran originally between March 1975 and May 1976 and then returned for a final series between August 1976 and January 1977. Dawson did eventually die but not from the actual bullet but by an extreme act of self sacrifice that saved his comrades. It was a bleak, downbeat ending to a reader favourite but then Battle Picture Weekly was always unpredicatable.

"He had to die,' said Eric Hebden, the writer who eventually killed Dawson. "It was a chronological story, we couldn't prolong it any further. Once he reached Berlin it had to end."


I remember being upset at the time, as were other Battle readers. In fact one reader, Derek O'Byrne of Dublin even wrote a poem and had it printed in the Comic's 5th November 1977 issue.

At the time schoolkids all across Britain went into mourning, for just as grown men where shocked into mourning when Sherlock Holmes supposedly died after his battle with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, we too were deeply affected by the loss of our hero.

Now I've a collection of Battle comics that I'd kept since I was a kid and a couple of years back when rereading some of these old issues, I suddenly thought the idea of a man doomed by a bullet lodged close to his heart had some mileage. And thus the idea for my third Black Horse Western, The Ballad of Delta Rose was born.



Like Dawson, Delta Rose has a bullet lodged inside him, one that can't be removed and will eventually kill him, but it is there that all similarity and debt to D Day Dawson ends. I approached fellow western writer, Dr Keith Souter and asked him about the effects a bullet lodged inside a human body, checking if it was feasible and indeed possible. I was told it was and was also given some documented evidence of this actually happening. And the novel grew from there. What's more I think it's the best thing I've ever written - the style is much more hardboiled than anything I've ever done and perhaps because I always had this beloved comic strip at the back of my mind, I managed to create something much larger than life, but at the same time keep it credible and grounded in a kind of fictional reality.

Delta Rose will be published on the 29th of July 2011 by Robert Hale LTD on its Black Horse Western imprint. The Black Horse Titles are primarily intended for the library trade and as such have limited print runs. My past titles have sold out quickly and Delta Rose is currently topping the pre-order western charts at Amazon .

Pre-ordering means you are guaranteed a copy and no money will be taken from accounts until the book is ready to be shipped in July.
Order it HERE
Check out The Ballad of Jack Martin HERE

It's a way to die

THIS JULY

Order now

THE BALLAD OF JACK MARTIN

But for all its cynicism it is ultimately an optimistic story, and I like that. After all, no matter how black things seem, something bright is always to be found. Maybe because the character of Delta is doomed, that there is no escape from his fate, he is the ultimate optimist. And his desire to right the wrongs of the past is purely selfless, because he knows there will be no consequences for himself in this life and he’s not too sure there is a next one. He has already faced all the consequences he is ever going to face. This is not about himself. This is about those he leaves behind. READ THE BALLAD OF JACK MARTIN HERE

I really do feel this book is the best I’ve written – a tale which comes from a mixture of influences including the noir genre, the comic books I read as a kid, and pretty much every western I’ve ever read or seen, is a benchmark for me as a writer. It is, I feel, my most assured use of a style I’ve developed over my previous novels. I think I’ve gained a lot from writing it and hope that I give readers a story that touches them on every level. It has a sadness that I hope will pass from the page to the reader’s heart, but it also has that optimistic, life-affirming vibe.

THIS MONTH - THE BALLAD BEGINS...

It's July 1st.

This month the ballad begins
 
 Published July 29th 2011
Check out, The Ballad of Jack Martin - HERE for a recent interview regarding Delta Rose.


Pre-order your copy:
here 
or
here
or
here

The Ballad of Delta Rose

Jack Martin
Format: Hardback
Pages: 160
Category: Westerns
Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN: 9780709091882
ISBN-10: 0709091885

After more than twenty years of living a life on the road, Delta Rose returns to the ranch he once owned with his fiancee, Etta James. A bullet wedged close to his heart has dealt Delta the dead man's hand.

This July - The Ballad begins

NEW TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION OUT TODAY

THE BALLAD BEGINS....

Soon - This July will see the hardcover publication of my new western, The Ballad of Delta Rose - preorder to ensure your copy HERE or start badgering your library into stocking a copy.


The Ballad of Delta Rose
This JULY - THE WESTERN GOES HARDBOILED.

Seeing Double

The look I was sporting on set today, looks remarkably similar to the way old Arkansas Smith is presented in the artwork for the new paperback edition.


Just though I'd point that out.