West Texas Kill

by Johnny D. Boggs

An American original, the great Johnny D. Boggs weaves a Texas-sized tale of an 1880s badlands--under the grasp of a lawman gone rogue. . .

In For Justice
In For The Kill

Between the Pecos River and Rio Grande a vast, harsh land was ruled by Texas Rangers Captain Hector Savage. Savage's motive wasn't duty, it was money; he's turned this desolate place into a bloodied, terrorized kingdom. Now, a protégé of Savage, Sergeant Dave Chance, has come with a prisoner--a big-talking murderer in his own right--shackled at his side. A decent, honest Ranger, Chance cannot stand idly by while Savage runs roughshod over the territory. Now, to save a traumatized people, he must turn his prisoner loose and give him a gun. Only their combined firepower can penetrate Savage's fortress and kill him.

That is, if they don't kill each other first. . .

"Johnny Boggs has produced another instant page-turner. . .don't put down the book until you finish it." --Tony Hillerman on Killstraight

"Johnny D. Boggs tells a crisply powerful story that rings true more than two centuries after the bloody business was done." -- The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier on The Despoilers

"Boggs is unparalleled in evoking the gritty reality of the Old West." -- The Shootist

Genres: Westerns

344 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Johnny D. Boggs is a Spur- and Wrangler Award-winning author of the American West and frontier. Born in 1962, Boggs grew up on a farm near Timmonsville, South Carolina, around the old stamping grounds of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion (chronicled in his frontier novel The Despoilers). He knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa Smith; son, Jack Smith Boggs; and basset hound, June.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this & liked it a lot. Most western writers don't know a thing about horses, guns, or even the terrain & it shows in their books. Boggs obviously knows them all & writes a good story that takes them into consideration. No showdowns at noon, horses get tired, & traveling takes time. He didn't get too realistic & start describing the difficulties of a man dealing with an injured woman, but that was a mark in his favor, IMO. He kept up the action without getting bogged down in details that could easily have detracted from the story.

It was quite a good story, too. A twisty plot that inevitably drew to a violent conclusion. The characters were good, bad, & indifferent. Their motivations made sense & each was an individual. While there were quite a few, they were introduced slowly & well, so I never had any difficulty distinguishing between them. There was also diversity of race & sex among them. It wasn't any PC crap, either. They had a reason to be there & life wasn't always fair or easy for them, but not everyone was a racist or sexist ass, either.

George Guidall, the narrator, isn't my favorite, but he wasn't bad. Sometimes his inflections really helped & I think what I liked the least were editing problems. There often wasn't enough space between the end of a chapter & the beginning of the next - too abrupt a change.

I'll definitely look for more by this author.

[Joe Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quickly paced, captivating western that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. This is not a story to read for character development. The villain is as bad as bad can be, although he has a soft spot for women, and the hero is as good as good can be. A nice aspect to the story is the friendship that develops between the two main characters of Chance and Albavera. This reader would readily enjoy a series based on these two characters.

The writing sparkles with description and complicated action (and there is a lot - a lot! - of gun play) that quickly builds and is held steady to keep you turning the pages right up to the end. You know what is going to happen conflict-wise, but the fun is how the author gets you to the conclusion. The story is full of twists and surprises in how the action evolves to the satisfying conclusion.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Texas Ranger Dave Chance has captured a black murder suspect named Moses Albavera and is transporting him to Galveston to face charges while, in a concurrent alternating-chapter storyline, his commanding officer Hector Savage is on the trail of a Mexican bandit and bringing his own form of justice upon anyone who gets in his way. We quickly find that Savage has essentially gone rogue and with his dozen-or-so closest disgruntled Rangers he is threatening West Texas, the Mexican mountains, and the desert region across the border. He has grander designs that I won't spoil because it is kind of ridiculous but also kind of perfect for a quick modern pocket western.

Chance's stubbornness and Albavera's unrelenting commentary make half of this tale a buddy cop western that is a little hokey but actually quite entertaining. The Shakespeare-quoting Mexican bandit is a minor hoot, the evil Savage's master plans are well-paced and fun to see as they play out, and the explosive finale is just wild.

Verdict: "West Texas Kill" (2011) is an at-times silly but more often entertaining and fun western Saturday adventure tale with some well-written characters, twists and turns. Its final act pushes it up a notch and is a lot of fun.

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Meg Mims · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex plot, both mystery and gritty Western, pitting Dave Chance, Texas Ranger, against Captain Hec Savage -- whose plan to set up a "kingdom" in West Texas leads to bloody death and terror. Boggs, six-time Spur Award winner, dishes up the dirt, sweat, gore and incredibly realistic details and characters who just want to survive.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

West Texas Kill was pretty good, but certainly isn't Johnny D. Boggs' best novel. The structure is well done, with most chapters ending in a cliffhanger. The pace is non-stop action. The characters, though, were just lacking. The only one I really liked was Moses.

Boggs doesn't let the story drag with too much historical detail, but he has enough real place names, real situations like tired horses, slow travel, empty guns, to keep it gritty and realistic. No one just uses a gun. Boggs is always very specific about the brand and caliber of the weapons being used.

I guess my biggest problem with the book is simply that it was pretty predictable. That notwithstanding, I enjoyed the ride quite a bit.

[Scott Mcleod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Texas Ranger Dave Chance has two problems, his captain Hector Savage has gone bad siding with crooks and riff raff and oh yes Dave has to take a prisoner to jail as well. Can he trust his prisoner to help him get Hector Savage off the Texas Rangers or will Dave shoot his prisoner first? Excellent story line and great characters makes for a very fast action read, thank you Johnny D. Boggs!

[Michael Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. The violence was too much and the heroes are to invulnerable. Good oater though.

[Courtney Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Low score only because I'm not a big fan of westerns. I enjoyed the reader, George Guidall, much better in this than where I had heard him previously.