Track Book 3 Apache by Samuel P Bishop
Published in 1988 Samuel P Bishop was a pseudonym for horror infamous author Shaun Hutson. This came under the covered wagon western series from TBS book publishers. I could not find any other titles in this series, so I presume track was the only title. This is basically a piccadilly western, like Edge and its ilk. Quick and violent.
No one character is likable in this book. Everyone is awful. The only people who seem to have any redeeming qualities are background characters that help the plot, and they are dispatched quickly and awfully. More of that in a moment.
It’s a short read with a basic plot (man finds gold, partner gets killed by Apache, gets Track on board, action and violence in various forms ensues) Track is a t ex-Cavalry man who now cares little for his fellow man and earns his living as a bounty hunter. The whys and wherefores of how he came to be such a cold faced killer are not elaborated upon — he just is, because he killed lots of men in the Civil War. There is not much more to it than that.
It’s a well written novel. A great fast punchy style and sets everything up quick and gets straight to the action. The story just races along, with some great action scenes and quippy dialogue. These are, of course, added brutality with its incredibly detailed descriptions of the violence acted out on people. Hutson’s almost medical descriptions of the gore and bullets effects are almost comical. He’ll spend a good few lines on a really loving description of a shotgun wound to the head, or a disembowelling. a coyote eats a dead genitals near the end! All of it pretty nasty (there is a particularly awful description of. A little girl gets her throat cut so badly that her head nearly comes off, in front of her mum who is then raped by the Apache’s.) Hutson does not hold back, jus as in is horror novels.
It’s a quick read and if you are a fan of the Picadilly westerns this will be a perfect addition to your library.
Great cover art, I did a lot of searching but could not find out who illustrated them. Its Charlton Heston with a scar. Excellent stuff.
