River of Blood — John J. McLaglen

Facing down the albino killer, Isaiah Coburn doesn't come without its consequences in this second in the fast-moving Western adventure.
"Becky rolled and slithered further and further towards the river. Everything she tried to grab hold of gave way in her hands. She clawed frantically at the mud but only succeeded in tracing patterns in it. Until she came to a sudden stop against something hard. Becky looked around, then upwards. Her heart stopped, her mouth sagged open: it was a pair of boots. The owner of which leered down at her through the mist which was rising off the ground. He had the strangest eyes and skin she had ever seen. Becky had seen no man like him before. It was Isaiah Coburn: the albino. ‘What a present to be made to us in such difficult times,' he grinned."

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.”