Big Bend

by Richard Meade

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!BIG BENDSam Ramsey was a loner. He didn’t need anything or anybody as long as he had his ranch—a place to breed and raise the sturdy little Morgan horses that were his whole life.But Sam lived in a time of violence; a time when bandits and cutthroats repeatedly swept across southwest Texas to plunder and rustle supplies for Pancho Villa’s ragtag army. When they finally came after his Morgans, Sam Ramsey was no match for them.A man alone, he started out after the raiders, determined to get his horses back—or die. Sam stumbled on help where he least expected it—from a black man named Concho and a beautiful widow named Nora. They were three desperate people and they struck up a strange bargain as they set out on a trek that seemed certain death for all of them …ABOUT THE AUTHORBenjamin Leopold Haas was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1926. His imagination was inspired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction as told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. Largely self educated, he wrote his first story, a pulp short for a western magazine, when he was just eighteen.A prolific writer who would eventually pen some 130 books under his own and a variety of pen-names, Ben wrote almost twenty-four hours a day. “I tried to write 5000 words or more every day, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity,” he later said.Ben wanted to be a mainstream writer, but needed a way to finance himself between serious books, and so he became a paperback writer. Ben’s early pen names include Ben Elliott (his grandmother’s maiden name), who wrote Westerns for Ace; and Sam Webster, who wrote five books for Monarch. As Ken Barry he turned out racy paperback originals for Beacon with titles like The Love Itch and Executive Boudoir. The success of his Fargo series led to the Sundance books. The short-lived John Cutler series followed, and then perhaps Ben’s crowning achievement, the Rancho Bravo novels, published under the name Thorne Douglas.Ben Haas died from a heart attack in New York City after attending a Literary Guild dinner in 1977. He was just fifty-one.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Pen name used by Ben Haas.

Reviews

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a very L'Amour feel for the first half or so then shifts gears completely into Benteen territory (Richard Meade being one of the many names he wrote under). Our hero isn't particularly capable or dangerous, but he's very determined and focused. Things go off the rails for him pretty much right away and while he eventually finds love he loses nearly everything else and is nearly killed multiple times.

Like Elmore Leonard, the author breaks a lot of the cultural mores of the time regarding racial roles and interactions, but it doesn't feel forced or contrived. In fact, everyone behaves very much the way they should given their situation and personality.

Overall this is a good read, if somewhat to pattern.

[Patricia Godfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cool book that I found in Goodwill. It was published in 1968 by Signet, at a cost of 60 cents to the reader. It has a sensational cover that is very sixties.

The author is Richard Meade, by the way.

It's a western adventure, with a twist. It would have been consciousness-raising in the sixties, in that a white man defers to a black one in terms of putting himself in the position of trusted leader. yeah, if you are younger than me you will probably call that pandering. But here i believe it was a genuine attempt at diversity. Here's the pivotal scene vis a vis that issue:

Concho nodded and smiled, as pleased as a teacher hearing a recitation from a star pupil. "Now you got it," he said. "That's where we git the lay of the land." he took out a pack of Mexican cigarettes found on one of the bodies, and rammed one in his mouth. He snapped a match and looked at Ramsey across the flame. "There's jest one thing to remember," he said. "It's gonna be you and me against twenty men, and the first one that let's the other down, he signin' both our death warrants.Now, somebody got to be in charge of an operation like this. Let's git this settled now. Who it gonna be, you or me."
Ramsey looked at him a moment. Then he said, "I reckon it'll be you. This is more in your line."
Concho looked faintly surprised, and he was not smiling now. "I jest wanted to have it understood. I mean, you a white man and ... and I black.If. . . "
Ramsey said quietly, "I'd just about forgot that until you reminded me." Then he spat into the dust. "You're the expert. Call the turn and I'll follow orders."

It isn't all good- Concho loves the newly widowed beauty of his newly dead friend but knows it can't happen because she falls for Ramsey and yes, Conch gets three in the chest for avenging his friend.. an early example of the brother dies first genre. Which I really dislike. What's that about

It cost me 99 cents to buy it all these years later!