Sounds of the Old West

It was actually my first book published - back in 2009 I took the step from amatuer to professional writer when Robert Hale published my novel,  Tarnished Star as part of their Black Horse Westerns series. The hardcover did really well, remaining their fastes selling title, selling out its first print run on pre-orders alone. Fast forward to the 2018 and the book, now retitled LawMaster has been optioned for a film (although it seems stuck in development hell) and is now available as an audiobook read by the talented Marcus Litch. The reader does a great job in bringing the title to life.

All Sheriff Cole Masters wants is to raise a family with the woman he loves. But upholding the law in an era when gunfire speaks louder than words can be a risky business. Cole makes an arrest for the brutal murder of a saloon girl but the killer is the son of a wealthy rancher and it’s clear the old man will do anything to see his son set free. Soon the peace of the small town is shattered with deadly force and Cole finds himself a lawman on the run for murder. The rancher wants Masters dead and the two deadly gunmen on his tail are sure they can do it. Soon blood will run as Cole Masters attempts to reclaim his tarnished star.

About the author: Gary Dobbs is the man behind the Jack Martin pen-name and had a string of popular westerns to his name. He also writes on criminal and military history. His debut western, The Tarnished Star (now known as LawMaster) remains the fastest selling Black Horse Western ever. Adventure fiction, and particularly westerns, holds a special place in the author's heart, and he intends to be produce western fiction for as long as there are readers who want it.

The book can be found at Audible  - 
In fact if you sign up for a trial with Audible you can get the audiobook of LawMaster for free.

 iTunes also carry the book. -

• Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
• Category: Western
• Published: Jul 15, 2016
• Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing
• Seller: Smashwords
• Print Length: 157 Pages
• Language: English
• LawMaster by Jack Martin
• Requirements: To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 1.3.1 or later and iOS 4.3.3 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.
   
   
  And of course that powerhouse Amazon carry the title in both audiobook and eBook - you can even find the Tarnished Star hardcover on Amazon.
  
  
  I am of course immensely fond of this book - it started me on the writer's life of late nights at the keyboard, huge coffee consumption and perpetual poverty.
  
  
  Listen to a Sample of the audiobook below:
   
   
   
   
  
  
   
   

 

Cole Masters rides back

My debut western, Tarnished Star remains Robert Hale's fastest selling western and it will soon see an all new edition under the title of LawMaster. The new title ties in with the movie which is now in early development.

In honour of Jack Martin

 The Ballad of Delta Rose is the third Jack Martin western, and so in honour of the man whose name I have adopted for my western fiction I thought I'd repost the following, which originality appeared prior to the publication of my first western all the way back in 2009.

Jack Martin. The man whom I looked up to as a kid, he seemed ten feet tall, and the man whose name I use for my western fiction.

Jack Martin was a coal miner in the South Wales fields - indeed it was the dust from this environment that eventually killed him. A arduous job and in those days there was only basic safety equipment. Lives were often lost in explosions and one time the entire mine shaft flooded and over 20 men were drowned before they could get out. But all that was before I knew him.

I was born in 1965 and Gramps had retired by the time I was five so I can't really remember him working. He was a tall man, always dressed immaculately, even when doing the garden he wore a shirt and tie. He grew the best tomatoes around and my first ever paid job was collecting horse manure from the mountain for his garden. I think he gave me something like 10p a bucket which was good money in those far off days when the world was black and white and the sun always shone.

My Grandmother often referred to him as Father Christmas and although they often argued as people did in those days, about anything really - leaving the door open, not wiping your feet and trampling garden over the mat. Their relationship was a strong and loving one. They both spoiled me rotten and I always got the latest comics and would go on the annual British Legion day trip to Porthcawl with them. Though often only me and my nan went and gramps stayed home and probably went for a sneaky pint down the legion.

Hey, sorry about the ancient history but I feel almost old enough to remember black and white radio.

Gramps loved the westerns and was always reading a western novel. When there was a western on TV I would watch it with him and he would tell me stories of when he was in the wild west (completely invented, of course. The furthest West he ever went was Tonypandy) and in these stories he would be teamed up with John Wayne or Gary Cooper but never Clint Eastwood - he never really liked him and would refer to him as an unshaven hooligan. As a young boy I believed every word of these wild stories. Gramps was a natural storyteller.

Jack Martin -  his love of westerns was passed onto me and apart from the fact that Eastwood is my all time fave, our tastes are the same.

When I published my first western novel, Tarnished Star with John Hale LTD I was proud that it contained the byline - by Jack Martin. When trying to decide on a pen name to keep my western fiction separate from my other stuff it was only natural to use Gramp's name.

He's been dead now for close on thirty years and I still miss him but I guess he's still here, inside me - his ideals, his ways, his humour and when The Ballad of Delta Rose  sees print this month it is as much his work as mine. For without him I would never have developed my interest and love for the American West. .

Hot News

Stuart Brennan never looked this battered in, Risen

I spent a few hours this afternoon with director, Neil Jones of Burn Hand Films, looking over the progress of the script for the movie, LawMaster which of course is based on my western, The Tarnished Star.  It's developing fine folks and has raised my excitement levels no end. The image of Cole Masters riding across the silver screen is getting more and more real to me. Of course some names have been bandied about regarding casting, and at this present moment I can't name actors because of contractual reasons, but rest assured as soon as I can I will spill the beans here.


While there I got a sneak peek at the editing of the forthcoming horror movie, The Reverend and it's looking good, if a little gory - of course I was more interested in seeing the scene in which I was mutilated and...well, it brought tears to me eyes.


Reverend features the great Doug Bradley (remember Pinhead from Hellraiser) among a stellar cast, which includes the awesome Rutger Hauer. Keep reading for more exclusive Reverend news and, I've been promised, some exclusive pictures.

Doug "Pinhead" Bradley

In the meantime here are the only two images released thus far.


More soon.

Synopsis: Fresh from seminary school a new Reverend embarks on his first parish. A small, low maintenance chapel based in the quiet idyllic setting of a quiet country village. While on the surface the village seems to be a peaceful parish, with perfect residents, soon it becomes apparent that something more sinister lurks beneath the façade of a local businessman. On a wet, cold night a mysterious girl visits the Reverend at the chapel. Cold and upset she is welcomed in warmly; soon it becomes apparent that her visit is not for sanctuary but to deliver a message, a message in the form of a deep, bloody bite... Awoken with an unknown, uncontrollable thirst, a confused Reverend can find no evidence of the girl from the night before. With nothing but the thirst and memory of the bite, the Reverend embarks on his mandate, to clean up the village and the neighboring estate, by preaching or feasting.

The Western revitalised

It is the most durable of film genres - according to conventional entertainment lore it should have gone the way of the music hall, silent cinema and Sylvester Stallone. It's basically a costume drama and yet the western refuses to die. The Western is back. The hats, the horses and the “howdy pardner” greetings are ALL BACK, only with a twist. This latest revival started earlier this year with True Grit, the Oscar nominated picture starring Jeff Bridges which is released on DVD this week. It is an updated, harsher, more stylish version of the 1969 movie starring John Wayne. The new film shocked Hollywood insiders when, after its first week of release in January, it became the best-selling picture in the US.

It is now the second-highest grossing Western ever after Dances With Wolves. “True Grit will still be watched and appreciated in 50 years time,” said the influential Hollywood Reporter magazine this week. This is despite the fact that the film did not win a major Oscar. This summer the most anticipated film release is Cowboys And Aliens starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig. It tells the story of aliens arriving in the Wild West and being stopped from taking over Earth by a group of cowboys.

This may not be your traditional western and God alone knows what the Duke would say, but western fans should embrace this movie. Who knows, it may even instil a love of westerns in young movie-goers. And while Cowboys and Aliens lights up the summer cinema screens there many more western projects in the pipeline - A new version of The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp  as Tonto, will be in our cinemas later this year. Depp plans to turn Tonto into the movie’s real hero. “We’re going to turn the thing on its head and drop the bottom out of the Lone Ranger,” says producer Gore Verbinski. “People love the idea of the Old West gunslinger reaching for his gun although they always need a new twist on the story. The Western will always be with us though sometimes it might be a bit difficult to recognise.” And of course there's the little matter of  LawMaster which should start shooting early next year, and is based on my novel, The Tarnished Star.

And so we leave the final word to The Duke.

"The western-dead! That'll be the day.

The Tarnished Star large print trade paperback OUT TODAY

The large print edition goes on sale today - request the book from your local library or purchase online.

Tarnished Star becomes LawMaster

There were several suggestion kicked around for a title, when it was decided to change the name from The Tarnished Star for the forthcoming movie. LawMaster, written like that, one word with the M capitalised, was my own suggestion and that seems to be the one we're going to use.

LawMaster
 
I like it - it's modern sounding and the capital M offers some nice design possibilities for the posters and so forth. Of course it's also perfectly logical because the main character's name is Cole Masters.

The state of play at the moment - well director, Neil Jones is shut away working on the script and once that's done, I'll be contributing to that first draft myself so that the version eventually on the screen will be a full collaboration between Neil Jones and Jack Martin. As Neil told me, "I want to collaborate 120%"

It's all very exciting and I hope that we produce a western that is both traditional and ultra modern. Things will probably go quiet for the moment, as Neil works on his new feature film, The Reverend, but we are hoping to start shooting LawMaster in 2012.

In the meantime I leave you with the official trailer from the current release, Risen which was also directed by Neil.