King of the Mountain (Wilderness #1) by David Thompson (David Robbins)

In the year 1828, 19-year-old Nathaniel King is slaving away at an accountant’s job in New York City, struggling to earn enough to keep his fiancée happy and living the kind of luxurious life to which she has grown accustomed. Afraid he will never earn enough to please her, he jumps at a chance to gain a vast treasure. Seems his Uncle Ezekiel (Zeke), a man who moved to the great unexplored West some ten years previously had found this treasure and now wants Nate to have it. Nate travels to St. Louis, meets his uncle and together they make the adventurous trek to the cabin in the Rocky Mountains where the treasure awaits.

I’ve long wanted to begin this series of western/frontier novels. The prolific David Robbins, writing under the name David Thompson did not disappoint. He packs this novel with one adventure after another, from a thief ambush in a dark alley, to a ferocious grizzly bear attack, to several hair-raising (pun-intended) encounters with various Indian tribes. Along their journey, Nate and his uncle share experiences and Nate learns as much as he can, learning of the beauty of his surroundings as well as the violent kill-or-be-killed nature of life in the wild.

The novel works very well as an origin story of Nate King, an unlikely Mountain man but a true hero of frontier fiction. The end of this novel sets up the next and it's easy to see this lends itself to a lengthy series. Robbins does add some social commentary at regular intervals, especially in pointing out the characteristics and foibles of civilized life in the Eastern US appearing less attractive and less honest than what is experienced by the hard-working frontiersman. The novel is easy reading and harkens back to the pulp style of ending each chapter in a cliffhanger.

A fun read to be sure. I now have yet another long series to pursue but that is the sort of problem I like to have.

Town Tamers by David Robbins

David Robbins is one of the most prolific authors anywhere, having created and authored hundreds of novels under at least seven different pseudonyms, in a variety of genres. These include dozens of entries in both the ‘Endworld’ and ‘Blade’ post-apocalyptic series, 'The Executioner' series, and many stand-alone novels. The western genre has also been blessed with his output with over 70 books in the ‘Wilderness’ series under his David Thompson pseudonym, a handful of books under the Ralph Compton brand, as well as numerous contributions to 'The Trailsman’ series, writing as Jon Sharpe. 

This novel opens with Asa Delaware, well-known town tamer, about to take on his latest project.  Ludlow, Texas is being run by a group of rowdy and violent cowhands, but the town has hired Asa and his sawed-off shotgun to “resolve” the problem. Together with his son, a poetry loving strategic thinker, and his daughter, a danger-loving crack-shot, they rapidly fix the problem, leaving no baddie alive. There is enough action and well-written gun play here to satisfactorily fill most standard western novels, but all this comprises only the first third of the book.

The bulk of the novel is taken with the trio’s operations in the fictional town of Ordville, Colorado, having been hired by a victim instead of the town council. This is a different situation than they’ve faced before. No violent power-wielding thugs or shoot-outs in the streets here, but rather a peaceful, and amazingly prosperous town that the citizens love. Digging deeper though, Asa discovers a hidden puppet master who controls the town’s wealth, the local law, and has anybody who gets in his way brutally beaten or killed. Worse, the three town tamers have no protection from authorities to cover for their typically lethal methods. What unfolds is a masterful display of strategy, cunning, and unfolding tension.

Asa Delaware is a fascinating character and the author does an excellent job of balancing the bits and pieces of his backstory and characterization with edge-of-your-seat action. Robbins displays a talent for making a wildly over-the-top adventure seem perfectly logical and for keeping the reader completely engaged from the first chapter through the last. It’s no surprise that this book, rests easily in the high-quality pantheon of David Robbin’s portfolio.