Posts

Showing posts with the label Ralph Compton

Riders of Judgment (Danny Duggin #3) by Ralph Compton

Image
Unique twist on the traditional Western but fails to deliver Originally published in 2001. Riders of Judgment is the third in the "Danny Duggin" series. The first two book are Death Rides a Chestnut Mare and the second is The Shadow of a Noose. The trilogy is about Danielle Duggin, the crack shot daughter of a master gunsmith who was gunned down by a ruthless gang led by Saul Delmano, the rich and spoiled son of a man who has led his own gang for decades. Danielle transforms into "Danny" and starts to hunt down the 10 men in the gang that killed her father. She has a list of names and is slowly working her way through it, marking them off as she kills them. She is joined by her twin brothers in her second book. In the third book they are down to one last name: Saul Delmano. Saul Delmano is hiding in Mexico, protected by the government of Mexico because Delmano's father rules the valley he lives in and polices it and shares some of the spoils with c

Skeleton Lode by Ralph Compton

Image
It is bad on so many levels I bought this book for my dad to read and he brought it back to me and I read it and I had to apologize to him for giving it to him - this is, without a doubt, the worst Western I have ever read. What makes it so bad? When I read a Western, I expect a certain amount of realism. I am not talking about the picky, picky details like the amount of gunpowder grains in a bullet. These are the things I am talking about: -The book is set in 1857. They constantly refer to the sheriff of Gila County. There was no Gila County in 1857 - it was not formed until the year 1881. -They refer to the town of Globe. It was a mining town formed in 1878 (as Globe City). -Uncle Henry (Hoss) has a cabin on Saguaro Lake. Saguaro Lake was not formed until a hydroelectric dam was installed in 1930. -Characters camp along creekbeds in the mountains during massive thunderstorms. I am not a mountain climber but I do know that you avoid creekbeds due to flash floods.