Product Description
When gun-for-hire Targett stopped in Dodge City, he thought he'd visit with his old friend Sheriff Bat Masterson. He wasn't in town 30 minutes before he found out that Masterson had moved on and then he was staring into the cold eyes of the new sheriff, Bill Tilghman. Tilghman took one look at Targett and thought one word--trouble. And he was right. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Weak.
Miles Jacoby, narrator and protagonist of Full Contact, is a prizefighter turned PI. Most of the action takes place in Manhattan.Jacoby, known as Jack to his friends, has been given two seemingly unrelated cases to solve.One involves finding a missing teenage girl.The other is an investigation of the murder of a gambler.The police already have a suspect for the second case in custody.He's Nok Woo Lee, a Chinese bookie whom Jack numbers among his friends.
The bulk of the narrative consists of dialogue which serves to make Full Contact a very quick read.Unfortunately, most of the dialogue is completely inauthentic sounding.Further detracting from the book's appeal is the fact the characters, other than Jack, consist of uninteresting stick figures who not only lack depth but are as inauthentic as the dialogue Randisi has them utter.Moreover, the plotting is rather haphazard and not very compelling at all.
Full Contact is a weakly crafted, lackluster work of fiction. Not recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Loren D. Estleman, Ed Gorman, W. W. Lee, L. J. Washburn, and other notable writers contribute eight original tales of the American West, created specifically for this audio anthology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Fun Sampling of the West
An old women robs a morgue for her outlaw son's body, men trying to kill each other for a copy of a wish catalog, gun slingers in a declining market,....

These are just a few of short stories read by George Kennedy and Mr. Kennedy does a great job!I really enjoyed the variety of stories, the humor. ... Read more

Product Description
Buffalo Bill Cody, Bat Masterson, and other legendary heroic figures of America's Old West get the royal treatment in 16 stories fromesteemed Western authors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

READ WHITE HATS-YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!!!!
WHITE HATS is another wonderful anthology edited by Robert J Randisi. The 16 short stories in this collection cover the well know authors like Louis L'Amour, Richard S. Wheeler, R. C. House, John Jakes and James Reasoner. Add to this mix some very good authors who may not be as well known such as Jon Chandler, Judy Magnunson Lilly, Lori Van Pelt and Sandy Whiting and you have the makings of A WONDERFUL WESTERN ANTHOLOGY...which is what WHITE HATS is. You will read stories about Buffalo Bill Cody, Tom Horn, Liver Eatin' Johnson and Orin Porter Rockwell and others who wear the WHITE HATS. All in all, WHITE HATS is a book you won't want to put down....it's that good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not a how-to, but a very good tool
Anyone hoping for a mystery recipe book will be dissapointed.This book won't tell you how to write a mystery story, but it will inspire some creativity and hopefully calm some worries (especially for those like myself who haven't done much mystery writing).

I picked up a copy from the "new & used" section of this site for only $.75.That's a steal for a book of this quality.

A Great General Book, Geared to the Mystery Writer
I am really sorry to see that this book is now about to be out of print, has limited availability in the U.S.!Luckily, it can still be obtained used through Amazon and many other booksellers.

I am starting a mystery, and found this book full of good advice.What it is not full of, however, is "nuts and bolts" type of advice.It is full of "general" advice from various mystery writers.

A number of writers talk about the importance of planning a writing a whole series, if you are just starting out.Many of them mention the importance of reading a lot in the genre.The technique of outlining three or four books mystery books that YOU like (by summarizing each chapter in three or four sentences) will teach you a lot about how to put together a mystery.

The other contributors each have something unique to say.The book is broken into eight chapters, as follows, with two-to-five author contributors of articles for each chapter:Getting Started, Plot and Structure, Creativity, Character, Setting, Writing the PI Short Story, Stretching the Boundaries, and From the Editor's Desk.Personally, I found one article on Trans-Gender Writing in the book to be particularly helpful.

This is a great general book, geared to the mystery writer. ... Read more

Product Description
Ted Shea thought he was a goner for sure. All the years he'd worked to build his Montana spread and fine herd of prime beef meant nothing if he couldn't sell them.And with a vicious rustler and his gang of cutthroats scaring all the hands, no one was willing to take to the trail. Until Dan Parmalee drifted into town. A gunman and gambler with a taste for long odds, he wasn't about to let a little hot lead part him from some cold cash. But it doesn't take Dan long to realize this isn't just any run.This is a...BLOOD TRAIL TO KANSAS. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ACTUALLY THE 'BLOOD TRAIL' STARTS WHEN THE HERD AND PARMALEE REACHED ELLSWORTH, KANSAS


I cannot think of a better western writer than Mr. Randisi, not only is he a very talented writer he is also a very prolific one.

Within the next 6 months he will have at least 2 new Leisure Book westerns issued to match the several others already issued this year. Each and every book is a pure delight.

This present book concerns an attempt to take a small herd, 214 cows, over a 2 month trail to Ellsworth, Kansas, for sale. The sale is important not only to save a ranch but also a family relationship. But the plot and subplots also in include a gunman trying to avoid killing unless he must, a young child who isn't young at all when it comes to understanding life, an old man-a grandfather-meaner than a diamondback rattler, a toady foreman who will do anything asked for money and then sits back to wonder that others will do his bidding for money, and among others, a trio of gunmen, mostly backshooters and inept who will kill anyone if the price is right.Mix all these activities and characters up in a western the "R. J. Randisi" way and pardner you have a couple night's pure delight and enjoyment for the reading.

I have been a fan of this guy for a long time and if you will read only one of his westerns it is 'straight shootin' that you will no doubt be a fan, too.

Semper Fi. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Looking to sample the genre?
Short attention span?Don't have the time to devote to a full-length novel?Or maybe you just want to sample the genre with a book that contains multiple writing styles.This may be the book for you.

I was in the library with my wife recently and was strolling past the isles looking for something to pass the time.The cover of this book alone is enough to grab your attention.

After I saw it was short stories, it was perfect to pass the time with and something I could be interrupted while reading.However, before I knew it I was half way through the book devouring each story.My wife was finally ready to leave but I wasn't ready to leave the book!

I picked up a copy on Amazon because I knew it was something I would probably go back and reread in the future.For someone who might get bored with a novel that has the same writing style throughout, this may just keep your attention.The first few stories start out with small narratives following just the day-to-day activities of a hitman "on the job."

But before you get bored it moves on to stories following their inner thoughts, personal relationships, life "off the job", and a few stories that will throw you for a loop at the end in true mystery story style.

The book ends with stories about private investigators where clients hire them not just for their ability to kill someone but their ability to judge based on the client's criteria whether they should be killed.

This is a truly large collection of stories that share a theme on the surface only but each story is a new adventure that is totally unrelated to any other story in the book.You will start fresh with each narrative and will ask yourself at the end of each one, "How can it get better than that?" ... Read more

Product Description
Young boys are being kidnapped and then strangled to death in Chicago, while the same is happening to girls in St. Louis. Is there one killer driving up and down I-55, or two separate killers? Detective Joe Keough and his partner, Harriet Connors, recently assigned to the federal Serial Killer Task Force, are dispatched from Washington, D.C., to find out. For Keough, it has been a long time since he was last in his hometown, St. Louis.

Keough has been part of the task force for just over a year and is not happy. He is considering yet another career change. The task force may be opening a Midwest office where he would love to be transferred---or it might be disbanded. A lot will depend on what Keough and Harriet can do about these two cases of serial murders. But Keough is distracted by his ongoing battles with diabetes and recurring memories from his past.

Filled with modern images of St. Louis, Robert J. Randisi spins another fascinating, multilayered murder mystery.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Love this book!
This is a great book I wrote a review on it but I wrote it on another page. Why you may ask? Well because I purchased this book and many other Joe Keough mysteries and I absolutly love them but I did not realize that when I purchased this book that it was the same as another book I had already purchased. This book in it's softback form is called Blood of Angels. I read that one and I loved it! Just like all the other Randisi's that I have read but nothing I had researched on the series had prepared me to expect that the hardback and the softback would have two different names. This is just a heads up for anyone who may be preparing to purchase the whole Joe Keough mystery series. I would strongly recommend all of them. I love the character and all the things happen to him while he trying to find a serial killer.

fast
A good read , A Joe Keough mystery novel. Duel serial killer's stalking Chicagoand St. Louis.An interesting twist at the end.

Best Detective Book in Last 10 Yrs
Don't walk but run out and get this detective book. Rich character development and a new interesting twist to the serial murderer genre, I highly recommend Randisi's new book. Each member of my family, who I am certain have the "detective story gene sequence" in their DNA, loved Bob's book! A read you will not regret!

fun serial killer investigation
So far the victims are all between the ages of eight and ten.The three strangled in St. Louis were female: in Chicago three boys were murdered in the same manner.Every couple of days a killing occurs.The police in both cities remain baffled over whether there is one culprit, two in tandem, or an originator and a copy cat as the I-55 serial killings of these little angels leave law enforcement officials feeling helpless and distraught.

Federal Service Killer Task Force Detective Joe Keough flies to St. Louis while his partner Harriet Connors travels to Chicago to help with the inquiries.The local cops are irate that these superstar outsider hired guns are perching in their territory, but that does not stop Joe and Harriet from taking over much of the investigations.Soon the DC based duo finds twin suspects, but are they the "divine" driven killers or is there something even more diabolical behind the serial murders of the angelic children?

Though Joe and Harriet are an interesting duo whose teamwork makes this serial killer investigation work as the latest of what seems like the zillionth serial killer novel offers quite a stretch of a solution to the murders.The story line moves at a leisurely pace more suited to a cozy belying that a killing machine or two is preying on the preadolescent populace.The territoriality of the local police seems genuine though one would hope that they would welcome outside expertise.ARCH ANGELS is a solid tale, but the climax and the feel that they have all the time in the world to stop the culprit(s) takes away from the latest Keogh tale.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first Nick Delvecchio novel, written in 1987. He's a hard-boiled private investigator with a godfather in the mob, a brother in the priesthood, and a sister in trouble. He tries to keep the mean streets under control but he's got all the family baggage to deal with. Ramble House is proud to bring the first two titles of this series back into print. ... Read more

Product Description
This new Western anthology includes tales of Butch Cassidy, Ned Christie, Sam Bass, and other historical villains from America's Wild West-from the top names in Western fiction: Matt Braun, Donald Hamilton, Ed Gorman, Troy Smith, and others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Multi-Authors
The only reason I bought this book is because my favorite Western Author, Elmer Kelton was listed as one of the key authors, as well as John Jakes, whose series on America I enjoyed reading. Whereas these two authors made a good contribution, they were not signigicant enough to hold a complete thread on just who was Tanner Moody, a ficticious name. In summary, I think we had too many authors to make this book a good read.

AN EXCELLENT WESTERN ANTHOLOGY -A MUST READ
A reporter on his way to New York for a job possibilty stops at The White Elephant Saloon in Ft. Worth for a meal. Inquiring as to why so many folks were gathered the reporter was surprised to hear the crowd had gathered for a funeral and wake. The funeral of Tanner Moody. So he decides to write a series of articles about Moody, gathering his information from the stories told by those in attendence. Marthayan Pelegrimas in her magnificent tale Poor Ole Moody tells of Tanner's early life, the young girl who always loved him, the death of Moody's stepmother and how he protected Ellie. Love And Bullets is an exciting story by Peter Brandvold of how Tanner became involved with a beautiful Mexican girl and her thirst for revenge against her father that led Moody down the owlhoot trail. Now Tanner Moody despite his reputation as an owlhoot was also a badge toter as James Reasoner relates to us in his stirring tale Tanner Moody And The Prophet Mountains. You'll find that Tanner Moody was also at one time a bounty hunter as you read Livia Washburn's thrilling story of how Moody rescued a group of abandoned boys out on the western plains while bringing in an old acquiantance who just happened to be an escaped prisoner. Kerry Newcomb, who once his story The Man Who Let The Devil Out, gets out to readers and publishers alike will be selling books faster than he can write them. This is an intriguing tale of a man from Tanner's past who with unexpected help from Moody, was able to rediscover his courage. Then there is the well crafed story Three-Handed Winner by Robert J. Randisi about a poker game Moody had with some well known westerners that had a deadly ending for some would be robbers. With additional stories by Elmer Kelton and John Jakes, THE FUNERAL OF TANNER MOODY IS A MUST READ and an OUTSTADING book that is very well edited by Robert J. Randisi. I would hope Mr. Randisi does other books like this in the future.

Les ... Read more

Product Description
Shop 'Til You Drop

When three women are found smothered to death in front of their television sets, St. Louis detectives Jason Holiday and Myra Longfellow discover a curious MO. Each victim had her eyes wide open and she stared blindly at the screen while Claire Hunt, the vivacious host of Home Mall, encouraged them to pick up the phone for the deal of the day.

Not one to sit by and let her good reputation -- nor that of St. Louis's extremely popular home shopping network! -- go down the drain, Claire Hunt and devoted husband Gil decide they had better get to the root of this strange, if shocking, crime. So Claire goes shopping . . . for a killer. The cops can only try to stay one step ahead before Claire ends up bargaining for her life with a murderer, and discovers the high cost of staying alive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Don't waste your money
This book has no suspense, the dialogue is trite, and the killer is obvious.

I *loved* this book!.
... and I can't believe that anyone didn't!!

It was a fun, sweet mystery, suspenseful, and SO full of love betweem the main characters, I nearly cried while reading .. even before the ending!

(Yes, I'm a sucker for good romance in a good mystery!)

Pat, looking forward to MORE Gil & Claire adventures! :D

Your best bet for a deal is to avoid this one!
Needs fleshing out; characters seem stilted and lifeless (and I don't mean the victims).The protagonists have been compared to Nick and Nora Charles - not likely!They do not intrigue me in the least and as for the inane ending....Not recommended.

St. Louis deserves better
Disappointingly mediocre.St. Louis deserves to be spotlighted much better than this.I read an interview with the authors, in which they claim that Gil & Claire are supposed to be modeled after Nick and NoraCharles of the classic Thin Man film series.Well, they're not even close.The dialogue is not terribly clever and the characters aren't veryinteresting.Plus halfway through the murderer is revealed and the bookmuddles itself into a standard woman-in-jeopardy climax.If not for thefrequent and accurate descriptions of St. Louis and its neighborhoods I'mnot sure I would have finished this slight mystery.

This awesome amateur sleuth couple is the deal of the day

St. Louis couple Gil and Claire Hunt have found happiness with one another after both suffered from failed marriages.Gil enjoys being the owner of a neighborhood bookstore while Claire loves hosting a localshopping show.

Their blissful existence is interrupted by a serialkiller.The culprit murders women, leaving behind victims watchingClaire's TV show.The police make no progress and begin to wonder ifClaire or her spouse could be the murderer.Instead of waiting around forthe law enforcement officials to either arrest or exonerate them, the Huntsgo on the hunt for a killer, not realizing that they may have inadvertentlyplaced Claire in the path of the murderer.

MURDER IS THE DEAL OF THEDAY is a top rate new entry for an exciting amateur sleuthing couple.Themystery is well designed and insight into the TV business adds just theright amount of background color.St. Louis comes alive, becoming morethan a non-McDonald's arch and the Cardinals.This hopefully is the firstcollaboration in a series of mysteries by the newly formed team of RobertRandisi and Christine Matthews.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Product Description
Robin Lobianco participates in a ménage àtrois with a married couple, expecting nothing more than one evening of wild sex. But when they profess their love for her and ask her to move in with them, she rejects them. Soon the couple begins stalking her.Will appeal to readers of Tami Hoag and Nora Roberts alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

taut suspense chiller
Assistant Curator at the St. Louis Art Museum Robin Lobianco meets gorgeous Vince and Amy Wheaton at a museum event.The trio hit it off and start to socialize, which is good for the curator who is separated from her husband Frank.Following one particular event, a somewhat intoxicated Robin joins the Wheatons in a ménage a trios.

What she did mortifies Robin, who wants to move on and forget the sexual encounter.They ask Robin to move in with them as they love her, but she is horrified by the suggestion and rejects it.They begin harassing her through greeting cards until Robin turns to the police for help.Detective Jack Jones, on clerical duty with the death of his third partner in the last two years is assigned to help Robin because the mayor declared the museum a key part of the city.As the Wheatons' campaign of terror increases, only Jack stands between them and their destruction of Robin, who, they insist, they love.

Fans of taut suspense chillers will be unable to refuse to read THE OFFER.The story line works because the key players seem human.The Wheatons are a Fatal Attraction duet whose obsession seems frighteningly real.Robin is a powerful victim filled with remorse while Jack is a cop struggling with being a death magnet that only his wife the stripper helps his esteem.Robert J. Randisi turns up the tension leaving the audience to think twice about whom they accompany home.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Product Description
From Vince Van Patten, host of the World Poker Tour, and mystery writer Robert J. Randisi comes a novel of chilling murder and riveting poker suspense. Just out of prison after ten years, professional poker player Jimmy Spain visits his wealthy former cell mate and listens to an offer he can't refuse. The rich man wants the ex-con to mentor his only child in the game of poker. In return, he'll set Jimmy up and pay all of his buy-ins on the poker tour. This deal looks like easy money, especially after Jimmy meets the kid--a cocky and abrasive young girl named Kat who has some good, yet raw, poker skills. Soon Jimmy and Kat enter a World Poker Tour tournament at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Things are coming up aces...until a player is found brutally slain with a Picasso flop--three picture cards--on his body. When suspicion points to Kat as the killer, it's up to Jimmy to find the real culprit--while fighting to remain in the tournament. As one ghastly murder after another knocks out other players, this hard-bitten veteran of the felt knows that in this cutthroat world of card sharks, someone could eliminate him--or Kat--for good. On the clock, with the blinds escalating, and down to his last hand, Jimmy fears he may be drawing dead. Featuring the appearances of such poker luminaries as Mike Sexton, Doyle Brunson, and James Woods, and cowritten by a true impresario of the game, THE PICASSO FLOP mixes money, mystery, and the adrenaline-pumping excitement of Texas hold'em poker action, Vegas-style. Shuffle up and read.Author Bio: Vince Van Patten is the current host and commentator for the nationally televised World Poker Tour, but his work as a poker ambassador is only one facet of a remarkably diverse career as an actor, screenwriter, producer, director, and world-ranked tennis pro. He lives in Malibu, California. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Fun Read
I listened to this book on tape with my fiance and we both loved it. It is a nice, light book that is interesting, has a unexpected ending, and incorporates poker in a great way. I love mysteries and my Fiance loves poker- both of us loved this book.

Fun celebrity poker, serviceable mystery
The story in this book follows the basic conventions of the mystery genre and does an adequate job. Mystery fans with no interest in poker won't hate this book, but it won't make their top ten lists. Some serious poker players will think it emphasizes silly froth over pure poker.

I loved this book for the inside jokes about celebrity poker. If you're a fan, there's all kinds of fun detail, carefully-etched portraits and amusing color. If you're not a fan, and don't know any of the people involved, it will seem like shameless plugs for the World Poker Tour with lots of silliness in between the murders.

This isn't a book for everyone (as the other reviews clearly show), but if you like this sort of thing, it's a five-star book.

Ugh!What a waste!
I really wanted to enjoy this book since I love watching the WPT poker telecasts and Vince Van Patten's commentary.I also love playing Texas Holdem.However, this book reads like it was written by a fourth grader (not to denigrate fourth graders writing ability).I got to the 10th chapter and decided I couldn't take it anymore.Vince, don't give up your day job....................

Like the new Knight Rider TV Movie
Odd comparison, but bear with me...
I just finished reading Picasso Flop a day or so after Knight Rider came on..and even with low expectations, both were disappointing.THey shared similar traits... a seemingly fan-friendly idea, and poor execution.Both appear to be hastily thrown together, have shaky (at best) plots, and OH-SO-convenient situations.Perhaps if KITT had driven into the Bellagio in this book, it might have at least made me stop and think something other than "Jeez, this book is so simplistically written..."The jacket desribes the author as the writter of several mysteries...I have a feeling it's quantity over quality if Picasso Flop is any indication.Maybe I'm asking too much from a book released by the WPT.Will I buy future installments?Sure, because I'm a rube that loves poker and will buy just about anything associated with it... and I'll watch Knight RIder every week if it gets picked up, because I loved the original when I was a kid...but that doesn't make them worthy...or any good.Suggestions to both:take a little more time. try harder.make a better product.

Don't need to know a lot about poker to enjoy this book
I don't know much about poker.If I hadn't caught a few of the shows on cable, I would think that a book with a tag line of "A Texas Hold'em Mystery" was a western-mystery.But sometimes I do turn on the television so I know that Texas Hold'em is the hottest thing in card games for adults.

Enter World Poker Tour commentator Vince Van Patten.He's teamed up with mystery-writer extraordinaireRobert J. Randisi and together they have penned the first in a series called The Picasso Flop.

Ex-poker professional Jimmy Spain has just finished his time in the slammer.He's almost kicked his past but an old cell mate, Harold Landrigan--a wealthy, weathly man--hires Jimmy to keep an eye on his young daughter Kat.Money is no object to Landrigan and Jimmy accepts his more than generous offer.Only thing is, Jimmy can't let Kat know of his connection with her father.

He moves to LA to meet Kat and see if she has any talent at all.She's a whiz at cards.Jimmy takes her under his wing and the duo head off to Vegas for the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio. Thanks to Daddy Harold, both have the buy-in fee for the five-day tournament.

Things are going well for the two until an Internet poker phenom turns up dead, with the Picasso flop--three picture cards--as one of the only clue.It shakes Jimmy and Kat but not their fortitude.Until a poker posse buddy of the dead guy's takes a nose dive nto the hotel's swimming pool also with the same flop floating in the water..

The Picasso Flop is littered with the poker world's most famous names.I have no idea who these people are, but it didn't get in the way of a good story.It helps that the authors do a minute amount of explaining about the game butthat helpful little tidbit of info doesn't get in the way.

Jimmy and Kat are compelling characters.For some reason, after I started reading The Picasso Flop, I started calling all the men I know "dude."And that's a word I never thought would be coming out of my mouth!



... Read more

Product Description
When Sam McCall got word his pa had died, something seemed suspicious. And even though he and his brothers hadn't been home in twenty years, they wanted the truth. But as soon as they got back to Texas, a posse of hired guns opened fire. Turns out the new owner of their old ranch didn't exactly cotton to having them around. Yet they're determined to find out what really happened to their pa--and make their hometown of Vengeance Creek live up to its name. ... Read more

Product Description
He almost paid the ultimate price for a crime he didn't commit. Now Decker is determined to track down others wanted by the law.He'll make sure the innocent have nothing to fear. But the guilty won't stand a chance against THE BOUNTY HUNTER

Brian Foxx was a legend. According to numerous eyewitnesses, he'd held up a bank in Wyoming and one in Arizona--on the exact same day at the exact same time. Decker has no idea how Foxx pulled it off, but he's got a legend of his own to maintain: no matter how wily the opponent or impossible the crime, Decker always gets his man. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Randisi Writes A Great Western
Double the Bounty is the first in Randisi's Bounty Hunter series.Decker, the bounty hunter, is on the chase for Brian Foxx, who is famous for robbing two separate banks at the same time, one in Wyoming and the other in Arizona.Randisi's writing style (short chapters, lots of dialogue, and lots of white space) keep the story moving along at a fast pace.Once you start this one, you likely won't put it down before you finish it.While Randisi's westerns lack the ring of true authenticity found in the works of Louis L'Amour, he more than makes up for it in sheer storytelling ability.If you enjoy a well-written, fast-paced western, you will not be disappointed with Double the Bounty.

Even though a legend,how can he hold up a bank in Wyoming and Arizona---on the same day?

This is my first encounter with Robert Randisi as a Western writer. I can see where this writer shows a lot of promise;but there are things about this novel that need to be different for me to adopt him as one of my favorites.
Randisi has crafted a very good stotyline,but it could quailfy both as a "whodunit" as a "western".This tends to weaken the story,rather than strengthen it--at least for me. However;it might be the opposite for someone who is a big fan of detective or mysteries.
This writer uses very little in the way of Old West parlance,a very important element in a great western---at least for me. I am always on the lookout for a great line to use in my review title ;something like "Hold on!;we'll give him a fair trial;then hang him in the morning." There was almost none of this from Randisi in this saga.
The story moves right along;and the writer is very adept at breaking it up into 41 chapters;as the story moves back and forth between the Foxx twins and Decker and his adopted companions. In many novels breaking up such a short story into so many,couple of page chapters and blank pages;is simply a method to stretch the words to fill the 180 or so pages that seems to be the requirement for today's "Dime Westerns" that Randisi refers to on pages 31-33 ,with "The Legend of the Hangman" by Ned Buntline. There is good reason for Randisi's use of this structure in this case;and makes the novel very easy to follow.
Another thing I appreciate in a good Old West western is for the writer to include some historical facts ,characters,and other color from these exciting times;some details of the struggles and way of life in these days;and above all,some real good character development.After all,characters is what this periodexceelled in. The writing style',of very short thoughts and sentences stands out,even for weasterns;and the bold clear print chosen by the publisher deserves mention and is appreciated.
I ,for one,appreciate good artwork on the covers of these Old West westerns.Too bad the artists aren't given credit.This cover is very good at first glance;but when one finishes the story;you are left wondering whether it is Brian or Brent. A big opportunity of doing something with the twins was missed.
So,having read my first novel by this writer;I enjoyed the story;but feel that the writer has it in him to come up with at great Old West Western;but falls a little short with this one.I'll be looking forward to reading more from him.

BOUNTY HUNTER-BOOK ONE


"Wild Bill Hickok may have been more famous than even
he believed.And Brian Fox was no Wild Bill Hickok."

"Brian Fox was a bank and train robber and was wanted in three
states..."


This western book which first saw the publishing light-of-day back in 1987, is now back in print from Leisure Western, August, 2008.I believe it to be the first book of a trilogy, with the second book THE LAWMAN, due to be released from Leisure November 25, 2008.

When your name is Decker and your profession is bounty hunter, your main problem is not so much catching "the legendary outlaw", Brian Fox, it is trying to figure how Fox can be in two separate towns, 100 miles apart, supposedly robbing two different banks at the same time.Eye witnesses swear that is happening, although Decker knows that is impossible.Felicia Wheeler, granddaughter of the editor of the Doverville, Arizona, newspaper has it figured out and is about to tell Decker all about it. The innocent have nothing to fear from "noose" Decker, but the guilty are without hope whether they realize it or not.

Mr. Randisi is among the top western writers riding the range today and DOUBLE THE BOUNTY is another 'crackerjack' traditional western from his prolific pen.This is a western writer and a western book not to be missed.

Semper Fi.

Randisi Magic


When the Bounty Hunter is on your trail....your days are numbered!

That's wher Brian Foxx finds himself.Supposedly, he comitted two crimes at the same time, yet he's only one man.Even Decker, the Bounty Hunter, can't figure out how this happened, yet according to eye witnesses, it did.Brian Foxx thinks of himself as Wild Bill, and his plan to rob two banks at the same time is genius.

What he didn't count on is Decker finding the posters, and setting his sights on the Foxx clan.

Western adventure by Randisi is always page turning.This time, the quest to escape and quest to capture collide.You know that when surival meets justice, it is never pretty.Truly exciting, this book is sure to thrill.

Tim Lasiuta
... Read more