Billy the Kid — John J. McLaglen

Jedediah Herne only wanted to play checkers but a fool-hardy youth wanted to draw him into a gunfight. The kid didn't know he was facing Herne the Hunter. For Herne, it brought back memories of another time; another kid …
New Mexico Territory 1878: The murder of local rancher John Tunstall lit the fuse for a bloody conflict that will be forever known as The Lincoln County War. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder is a legend and one in the making�"Herne the Hunter and Billy the Kid. Luckily they are on the same side. Not so for the opposition. Herne hires out his Colt .45 to the Tunstall/McSween supporters against the Dolan/Murphy faction and thus The Regulators are born. The Kid's gunning down of Lincoln County Sheriff Brady changed the playing field. Soon Herne and the Kid are pitched against lawmen and desperately fighting for their lives.
A fast-paced adventure featuring notable figures of the Old West, including Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Chisum, Alexander McSween, Dick Brewer, Lawrence Murphy and the most famous of them all�"Billy the Kid.

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.”