Mad Dog Hallam — Kirk Hamilton

It all started with a very special gift … a gold-plated, silver-inlaid Commemorative rifle, specially made on the express orders of the Winchester Family for presentation to Lester Dukes, Governor of Texas. But when the rifle was stolen, Yancey Bannerman and Johnny Cato set out to track down the thieves. The mission wasn't official -- they were doing it as a favor to Winchester's representative, Lang Huckabee. Before it was over, however, good men and bad would die wholesale, the Governor's daughter, Kate, would find herself in the clutches of a homicidal madman … and death would claim one of the heroes who went after … Mad Dog Hallam.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As well as writing under the pen name of Hank J. Kirby, Australian writer Keith has also worked as television scriptwriter on such Australian TV shows as Homicide, Matlock Police, Division 4, Solo One, The Box, The Spoiler and Chopper Squad. His thrillers are published under his own name.

"I always liked writing little vignettes, trying to describe the 'action' sequences I saw in a film or the Saturday Afternoon Serial at local cinemas," remembers Keith Hetherington, better-known to Piccadilly Publishing readers as 'Hank J. Kirby', author of the Bronco Madigan series. "Then, when I was in my teens I had an accident at work and spent a week at home recuperating. During that time I read a story called Jailbreak Justice in a book of cowboy stories and thought I could write as good or better yarn. I filled a dozen or so pages in an exercise book, called it The Texan (very original) and mailed it away. A couple of months later I received a cheque for six pounds fifteen shillings. After that I began writing fairly regularly and Cleveland Publications asked for novels of about 40,000 words."

Keith went on to pen hundreds of westerns (the figure varies between 600 and 1000) under the names 'Kirk Hamilton' (including the legendary Bannerman the Enforcer series) and Clay Nash as 'Brett Waring'. Keith also worked as a journalist for the Queensland Health Education Council, writing weekly articles for newspapers on health subjects and radio plays dramatising same.

"I must have been mad, but can still remember belting out a series on Smoking and Lung Cancer with a packet of cigarettes beside my typewriter - and going through them mighty fast!"