Death in Gold — John J. McLaglen

The brainchild of Amazon Kindle Number One bestselling western writers Mike Stotter and Ben Bridges, PICCADILLY PUBLISHING is dedicated to reissuing classic fiction from Yesterday and Today!

DEATH IN GOLD

Whitey threw the bottle that was close to his left hand and fell fast to his right. He heard the roar of the Mexican's gun, loud in the confined space of the cantina. He rolled and pushed himself up into a crouch, banging against another table as he did so. His Colt was drawn and clear and the first shot smacked into the center of the Mex's crotch. There was a scream of pain and two more shots, one upon the other. The one that was Coburn's took another of the Mexicans high in the chest and sent him staggering back against the white wall, blood pumping through his shirt and staining his gun belt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John J. McLaglen is the pseudonym for the writing team of Laurence James and John Harvey.

Laurence James began his writing career in 1974 when he published his first novel in the science-fiction series SIMON RACK: EARTH LIES SLEEPING. He worked in publishing for ten years off and on till about 1970, when he went to “New English Library and ran the editorial side of NEL for three years.” In addition, around 1974, James published the fantasy saga of Hells Angels in England & Wales in the early 1990s under the name Mick Norman.

While the name of Laurence James is not synonymous with Westerns, those of John J. McLaglen, William M. James and James W. Marvin, to name but a few, are.

John Harvey, a former English and drama school teacher began his contribution to the Herne the Hunter series with the second book, River of Blood. “In the Western,” says John, “I'm interested in finding a balance between the myth of the West (as it comes through American literature and film) and the historical reality. Increasingly, I'm concerned to attempt to make a stronger place for women in the Western, which is traditionally a refuge of masculinity and male fantasy.”

The character of Jed Herne is like a blunt instrument moving through the West. He never achieves happiness, nor riches. Laurence James said, “There is no such thing as a happy western hero. Never. They can't be. They've got to be men alone. They've got to be heroes.”