Tuesday 22 July 2008

Texas Horse Trading Co.

by Gene Shelton
Diamond, March 1994

They were unlikely partners. Dave Willougby was a Yankee gentleman; Brubs McCallan was a Rebel hellraiser. They met in a barroom brawl and the only thing they had in common was an aversion to work. Flat broke and on the run, they had nothing to lose by trying something crazy - like going into business together. They had high hopes of getting rich quick - providing they could find some horses to trade. The Texas frontier was full of wild mustangs waiting to be roped and sold. Too bad Dave and Brubs knew nothing about catching mustangs. So they came up with their second bright idea... Why not just steal some horses?

This is the first of four books about the Texas Horse Trading Co. and if this is anything to go by I’ll be wishing there were more.

Gene Shelton has written a book that hits all the right spots. The two main characters are perfect opposites allowing for some great banter, not to mention many humorous incidents, especially when they attempt to catch some wild mustangs. Shelton’s experience of being a real cowboy allowing him to add detail usually missed by many other authors.

The supporting characters are just as intriguing and I’m eager to see what happens to those who might be in the following stories.

Texas Horse Trading Co. should be on the must read list of all western fans.

2 comments:

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Do you think you could review some of the EDGE books.

Steve M said...

I'll have to re-read them as it's been years and years since I did so - although I have read them many times over.

Have been thinking of doing just this, along with some of the other PC westerns, so watch this space - as they say.