Once a Marshal by Peter Brandvold

Once A Marshal is the first in the Sheriff Ben Stillman Series published by Wolfpack Publishing. 

An old friend of Stillman's, Bill Harmon, has been killed and Harmon's son contacts Stillman to find his killer. The son, Steve Harmon, is a half-breed and is in love with a Crystal Johnson, daughter of Warren Johnson, an alcoholic, widowed, old white man who does not approve of this relationship.

Stillman shows up and begins his search for the killer of Harmon and runs into Donovan Hobbs who is gradually taking over all the public  property where men and families have settled. Hobbs is a British citizen and he and his ranch manager, Weed Cole, and his ranch hands (read outlaws) are raiding and getting rid of the settlers to expand his Montana empire. Stillman also finds out his former girlfriend/lover is now married to Hobbs and can't understand why. Fay Beaumont wasn't the type of woman to marry somebody like that and she had enough money to take care of herself.

So, the plot thickens and Stillman is caught in the middle. It takes a lot of luck and brains to get through it. A lot of action and chasing and hiding and waiting and searching goes on, enough that I give it five stars. It's a well developed novel with lots of tricks and shooting  and twists. This series should be a barn burner.

 

Review of The Battle for the Alamo Taqueria by Nick Iuppa and John Pesqueira

The Battle for the Alamo Taqueria is supposed to be a comical story based on today's news, and I'm not saying it isn't funny. I didn't enjoy it too well. A group of Mexicans plan a raid on the real Alamo to make a statement against the border wall. It comes about because an immigrant gets shot crossing the border illegally in South Texas.

Claudia Madero plans the invasion along with Emilio (the son of the King of Beans), as Claudia is the niece of the man who was shot. The message gets mixed up and while Claudio and Emilio head for The Alamo in San Antonio, the remainder of the invaders end up at the Alamo Taqueria a few miles on the outside of San Antonio in the midst of a wedding party.  Nacho (Francisco Alfredo Gonzalez Gonzalez Gonzalez) and  Britney Fleming, a singer and Nacho's girlfriend) are in the group heading to the Alamo Taqueria. The place is surrounded by the U.S. Marines and the President of the U.S. and El Presidente of Mexico land there and try to straighten out the mess.

Clayton Bailey, a Texan, is the culprit who shot Claudia's uncle and he also shows up at the Taqueria, (The Best Tacos in the U.S.) to finish off Nacho who stole his girlfriend (Britney).

You can see where this novel has great potential to be funny and the authors do a good job of working on it, but it didn't hit my funny bone. I'm sure most readers would enjoy it and find it comical, but I can only muster up Three Stars for it, partly because it needed a better proofing. It moves along at a brisk pace and is easy to read, though.

 

To the Far Blue Mountains by Louis L'Amour

This novel read like it was first in the Sackett series, being about half or more of the life of Barnabas Sackett in England. Barnabas is wanted for stealing the Queen's pile of gold that was lost in the "fens" along the coast of England. Barnabas found a few coins, but nowhere near the amount that everyone is looking for and all the robbers and the Queen's men are looking for him. He has made a couple of trips to the New Land and is anxious to get back to it and avoid the people after him. He swashbuckles himself into command of a Dutch flyyt (a small sailing ship) and he sets out for the far blue mountains with his girlfriend and friends who helped him escape from prison.

After an adventure on the Newfoundland coast where he managed to take over the flyyt, they find themselves on the beach in Virginia or nearby and build a fort to keep the Indians and others out. Before setting out for the Far Blue Mountains, they must return to England for supplies and trade. With them is a Catawba Indian they rescued who is planning to show them where the Catawbas live and the way to the mountains. In between attacks by Indians and pirates, on their return there fort is destroyed. Rather than rebuild they head for the mountains.

My view of the novel is that it was mighty interesting and kept my attention. The descriptions of English life is well done and so is the sword fighting along the way with plenty of action and entertainment. Ditto for the life in the New Land and the Indian fights. It covers twenty or more years and Barnabas is married and having kids along the way, who soon grow into adulthood, all well written. This and all the other things I haven't mentioned make it a good read, and I give it FIVE STARS.

"Powerr Up for Profits" by Kathleen Gage

I purchased Power Up for Profits by Kathleen Gage with the idea that it would get my small business up to speed. The book is chock-a-block with instructions and ideas for running an on-line business, It covered about everything including the use of the media, videos, and what do and how to do it in many cases. The Chapter Titles give you a clue to what's inside, e.g., Your Business is Your Expression, Your Marketing Strategy, Create Information Products, Blogging for Fame and Fortune, The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread - Social Media, and one more example - Teleseminars and Webinars. There are more titles than those mentioned, but it gives you an idea of the scope of the book.

The Subtitle of the book is The Smart Woman's Guide to On-line Marketing - Internet Marketing for Today's Entrepreneur. The great thing is, it's no just for women. Men can make great use of it, too

My small business is stagnated in a pothole of mud and I'm at a standstill. But now that I've read this book, I understand why and what to do about it. I hope to use some of the information to get out of the pothole and make a little money. All I must do is follow Ms. Gage's instructions, not all of them, but enough to get me started.

I give Power Up for Profits FIVE STARS for it's writing, usefulness, and instructions.