Savage Blood by James Reasoner

Savage Blood
Author: James Reasoner
eBook

This book's been sitting on my Kindle for a few months, but until now I'd not got around to reading it . I was at a loss for something to read and fancying a short western I decided to give this book a try.

It' a short book. I don't like to call it a novella -I don't really like that term - and it's too long to call it a short story. So I'm going to stick with the good old fashioned term and call the book a novel.  Fitting really given that Savage Blood is a good old fashioned, action packed western.

Brodie is a one armed veteran of the Civil War. As well as his arm the war took his beloved Eva from him - well she actually fell into the two arms of another man but only after believing Brodie dead. However when Brodie receives a summons for help from Eva who is being driven out of her business by a ruthless town boss called Flannery, he has every right to ignore her. That's not the way it goes though and Brodie soon finds himself teamed up with the ex-wife's current man,Martin Caney and together they are heading for a showdown with Flannery.

At the root of this excellent story is a standard western plot of big business pushing around the common man, a plot I've used myself, but Reasoner's cast of three dimensional characters give the story a gravitas common to all of the best western fiction. The conflict between Caney and Brodie is handled well and never seems anything less than fully believable. You can imagine that this is how men in such a situation would interact, and this plot strand is used to create tension throughout the book.

An excellent western, skilfully told with an appealing lead character. The reader is immediately rootING for him. He's a cripple in a cruel world, where no allowances will be made for his handicap but even one armed Brodie is a match for most men.

Highly recommended and available at a low price for Kindle and other eReaders.

James Reasoner

Writing powerhouse and Archive friend, James Reasoner is interviewed HERE

JOHN WAYNE TRIBUTE WEEKEND: Hanging with the Duke: James Reasoner

Author James Reasoner is responsible for more books than the Duke made movies - here he tells us of his admiration for one of Wayne's lesser westerns, The Comancheros. 

Find James' own corner of the Wild West Web  HERE

My favorite John Wayne movie – notice that I didn’t say it’s the best John Wayne movie, because I don’t think it is – is one that doesn’t show up on many people’s lists.  It was released in 1961 and was based on a novel by Paul I. Wellman.  The script was by the always-dependable Clair Huffaker (author of many fine Western novels and film scripts), and it was the last film directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz, director of CASABLANCA, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, WHITE CHRISTMAS, and many other classic films.

I’m talking, of course, about THE COMANCHEROS.

For those of you who haven’t seen it (I can’t imagine there are very many of you), the story centers around Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), a Louisiana gambler who flees to Texas after killing a powerful politician’s son in a duel.  As soon as he arrives in Texas, though, he’s arrested by Texas Ranger Jake Cutter (John Wayne).  At this point in time, Texas is still a republic, but there’s talk of joining the Union, so the authorities in Texas try to cooperate with the authorities in the States.  Cutter plans to have Regret extradited back to Louisiana.

Of course things don’t work out that way.  Regret winds up becoming a Texas Ranger, and he and Cutter go undercover to break up a gang of gunrunners who are selling rifles to the Indians, the gunrunners being the Comancheros of the title.  There’s a pretty girl, of course (Ina Balin), who’s the daughter of the patriarchal leader of the Comancheros (Nehemiah Persoff).  There are plenty of fistfights, gunfights, and chase scenes along the way before everything wraps up with an epic battle between the Rangers and the Comancheros.  Pretty standard stuff.  So why is THE COMANCHEROS my favorite John Wayne film?

To start with, it has a great cast.  In addition to the actors I’ve already mentioned, there are fine performances from Bob Steele as a settler named Schofield, Bruce Cabot as the commander of the Rangers, Edgar Buchanan as a judge, George Lewis as the Comanche war chief Iron Shirt, Michael Ansara as an arrogant gunman, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams as a smuggler named Ed McBain (!), and probably best of all, Lee Marvin as the half-scalped gunslinger Tully Crow.  Patrick Wayne plays a young Ranger named Tobe, who, along with his dad and Stuart Whitman is part of a brief but iconic shot during the Comanche attack on the Schofield ranch.

Then there’s Clair Huffaker’s script, which is full of good lines, like this one from Buchanan’s judge character:  “There’s no way to do this legal and proper, so, bein’ good Texans, we’ll just do ’er illegal and improper.”  (I’m probably paraphrasing slightly, but that’s close.)  At one point, Wayne’s character mentions someone “taking off for the tall and uncut”.  I’ve used that line in countless Westerns in my career.  Another favorite is this exchange between Whitman and Wayne:  “How do you know you killed him?” “Wasn’t time not to.”

The music is another great strength of this movie.  The stirring theme song has stayed with me all these years, and it always brings a big grin to my face whenever I hear it.  And I can hear it whenever I want to, because I have the soundtrack on CD and also on both of my computers.  It’s playing as I type these words.  Many times, when I’ve been writing a big battle scene at the end of a book, I can hear the theme from THE COMANCHEROS in the back of my head whether it’s really playing or not.

So why do some people actively dislike this movie?  I’ll admit, it’s pretty inaccurate historically.  Texas is still a republic, so the time period has to be before 1845, and yet everybody dresses like it’s 1880.  Worse still, they’re carrying Peacemakers and Winchesters, neither of which would be invented for quite a while yet.  I understand why things like that bother a lot of viewers.  When I see anachronisms and other historical mistakes in other movies, it bothers me, too.   But I’m willing to give THE COMANCHEROS a pass on that score because I love the movie so much.  And now I’ll tell you the real reason why I love it that much.

           

Because my dad took me to see it at the Eagle Drive-in Theater when I was eight years old.  That’s good enough for me.

TV COP WEEKEND GUEST - JAMES REASONER

When most folks of my generation think about the TV cop shows they watched as a kid, probably the ones that come to mind most often are series like DRAGNET (the original version), HIGHWAY PATROL, and M SQUAD. I was certainly aware of all those shows and saw episodes of them from time to time, but the first TV cop show I remember watching on a regular basis is one many of you likely have never heard of: SHERIFF OF COCHISE.
I know what you’re thinking. “Cop show, not Western.” But SHERIFF OF COCHISE was a cop show. It centered around the modern-day (in this case, 1957) adventures of Frank Morgan, the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. As such, the stories usually involved gangsters, car chases, and shootouts, often with Tommy guns. The action in many episodes was almost non-stop, making it very attractive to bloodthirsty little tykes like me, and the southwestern setting made it different from all the other cop shows on the air.
SHERIFF OF COCHISE was a syndicated series that ran for one season. It seems like I watched it for years and years, but I’m sure they were just showing the same batch of episodes over and over. Interestingly enough, it was created by songwriter Stan Jones, who wrote the classic “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and who also portrayed Frank Morgan’s deputy in some of the episodes. Morgan was played by John Bromfield, a somewhat stiff but competent leading man who’d starred in a few mid-Fifties features. After one season, the character of Frank Morgan gave up his job as sheriff and became a United States Marshal responsible for the entire state of Arizona, leading to a name change for the series. It became (you guessed it) U.S. MARSHAL and ran for two more seasons under that title. When it ended, John Bromfield retired from acting to become, of all things, a commercial fisherman.
Since it was produced by Desilu, the production values on SHERIFF OF COCHISE were pretty good. A few episodes are available on DVD, as are a few from its successor U.S. MARSHAL, and as of this writing, an episode of SHERIFF OF COCHISE guest-starring a very young Michael Landon as a boxer can be found on YouTube. There were quite a few guest stars who went on to become bigger names, such as Charles Bronson.


As much as I watched this show, I must have seen every episode several times, but I don’t remember much about them except that I enjoyed them. Watching the few episodes that are available now, I still find them entertaining and like the mixture of southwestern settings and big city cop action. It’s an odd series, but worth watching. Maybe someday the entire series will be released on DVD.

James Reasoner short story on Beat to a Pulp

Neatly slotting between Halloween and Wild West Monday - head over to Beat to a Pulp for One Night Near Hangtown by James Reasoner, a name well known to western fans.


Hang out there for a damn funny, quirky and strangely chilling tale. Any story where Bela Lugosi says: 'I took the liberty of ordering the wine.' is going to be fun.

DRAW BY JAMES REASONER

DRAW
James Reasoner
Berkley Books
Originally published 2003 (Trade paperback edition)

As soon as I saw this book, penned by our good friend James Reasoner, looking down at me from the shelf I knew I had to buy it. I'm familiar with James' western fiction but the fact that he had written this non fiction study of the West's greatest gunfights came as a surprise. And a nice surprise at that.

The book is split into six sections, each containing several chapters devoted to true events and people of the American West. The sections are - man to man, gangs, posses, hold-ups, back shooters and finally gun fighting mishaps and misfortunes. I particularly found the chapter on Luke Short interesting but then I'd been reading a lot about the diminutive gambler lately and the entry in this book perfectly complimented my research.

All of the well know gunfighters have chapters devoted to them as well as several of the more obscure characters that have become footnotes in western history. As expected the book is well researched and perhaps because of the author's experience as a fiction writer it is more than a staid list of dates and facts. Reasoner goes to great pains to flush out the historical characters as much as possible. I only bought the book this morning and spent a couple of hours this afternoon going through the first hundred pages - true it's a reference book that I will refer to from time to time, whenever a fact is needed, but it reads so well that I found it hard to put down. And will, no doubt, finish it this evening.

The author mentions in his introduction that most of the research was done by his wife, Livia so much kudos must be laid at her feet. This book has enough meat on its bones to interest Old West buffs but the writing style is so immediate that casual readers with only a passing interest in the subject will find it interesting. There' some nice photographs in there too.

A great introduction into gunfighter lore and those heady days of American history known as The Wild West.

WILD WEST MONDAY GUEST BLOGGER - JAMES REASONER

What introduction does James Reasoner need?

He has written a gazillion books and is currently wowing pulp style adventure aficionados with the Gabriel Hunt novel, At The Well of Eternity. Check it out HERE. Fans can become friends by visiting the author's blog HERE

And now for The Archive James gives us his thoughts on the book, The Western by Kerry Newcomb

And so it's over to James...


A number of years ago, my friend Kerry Newcomb, who loves Western movies as much as I do, recommended a book to me, and now I’m recommending it to you: THE WESTERN, by Phil Hardy, was published by William Morrow in 1983. It’s a coffee table book that includes brief summaries and credits for a couple of thousand Western films, from 1929’s BRIDE OF THE DESERT to 1983’s TIMERIDER (which is a time travel Western for those of you who haven’t seen it, which I imagine is most of you). It’s profusely illustrated, as they say, with still and publicity photos from many of those movies, and also includes several essays about the history of Western films. These aren’t just Hollywood movies, either. Hardy includes many Italian and German Westerns as well. There are appendixes that list the Biggest Money-Making Western Stars, Academy Awards won by Westerns, Western novels adapted into movies, and various critics’ picks for the Top Ten Westerns of all time.

This isn’t the sort of book you read straight through, although if you did, you’d get a pretty comprehensive picture of how Western movies developed over the decades. But when you open it to look up something, chances are you’ll be browsing through it for a while, because there’s always something interesting on the next page. It’s dated now, of course, since more than a quarter of a century has gone by since it was published, and it’s certainly not an exhaustive study of any particular sub-genre of the Western film. Classics like THE SEARCHERS don’t get much more space than B-Westerns starring Tim Holt or Johnny Mack Brown. But the way it embraces the entire Western field sort of adds to the charm of the book. And because of that, you’re liable to stumble across little gems that you’d never heard of before.

Western news

Published March 3rd is the fourth in Mike (James Reasoner) Jameson's Tales from Deadwood series. I would urge anyone interested in westerns to buy this book - James is a great writer and sales will ensure the series doesn't go the same way as the TV series. I'm still mourning the demise of that series.

WESTERN FANS - Don't forget this Monday sees The Archive publishing part two of Chap O'keefe's long out of print classic, The Sheriff and the Widow.













Amazon's top 10 selling western for week ending 8 March 2009 are:

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