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The Ghost of Apache Creek
The only folk left behind in Apache Creek are ghosts, including Marshall Sam Pace. Three years of solitude have turned Sam into a phantom, but when a woman on the run stumbles into town, the former lawman must protect her and make use of gunslinger skills long out of practice...
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2011
23 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Joseph A. West
49 books8 followersJoe West was born and raised in the seaside town of Saltcoats in Scotland. At 19 he became a police officer, but soon turned his love of writing into a career as a journalist, working for the Daily Mirror in London among others. In 1972 West was recruited as a reporter for the National Enquirer, and began working in the United States. Traveling the world in search of stories, West almost froze to death on an Alaska mountain, and a spider bite nearly killed him in the Amazon rainforest. 'I swelled up like a balloon and turned a real pretty violet color,' he recalls.
Now a full-time novelist, West and his wife Emily reside in sunny Lake Worth, Florida, where he enjoys tamer pursuits like canoeing the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades. His daughter Alexandria attends a local college where she studies forensic technology. She will have absolutely nothing to do with canoes and alligators.
West researches the settings of his novels by exploring the terrain in person, usually with little more than a sleeping bag and a can of coffee.
Recently he and Emily celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a gift from the students at Rio Rancho High School who use West's first novel as a textbook. They then spent a month in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, often pitching their tent where the air is thin at 9,000 feet above the flat.
Now a full-time novelist, West and his wife Emily reside in sunny Lake Worth, Florida, where he enjoys tamer pursuits like canoeing the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades. His daughter Alexandria attends a local college where she studies forensic technology. She will have absolutely nothing to do with canoes and alligators.
West researches the settings of his novels by exploring the terrain in person, usually with little more than a sleeping bag and a can of coffee.
Recently he and Emily celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a gift from the students at Rio Rancho High School who use West's first novel as a textbook. They then spent a month in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, often pitching their tent where the air is thin at 9,000 feet above the flat.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 25, 2014
Imagine a man tied to a Ghost Town by the fact that his wife and child are buried in the graveyard. Three years the town has been empty, but the hero cannot bring himself to leave. Not only is he tied because of his great sorrow for his wife, but the sad belief that people will return. Why is it a ghost town? A cholera epidemic wiped out most of the town and a number of others left in the middle of the night, fleeing the dread disease.
The author, Joseph West, (see notes at end of this review to see why I say that)-- does a good job of creating the eerie atmosphere of a ghost town. As I read it, I am reminded of countless western movies and television shows where the howling wind, the banging of doors, The creaking of wood, the sand pelting the wood siding of buildings, etc. The author gets it right! Okay, one minor error... he has our hero wearing spurs-- and though he does have a horse in the stable-- he hasn't been anywhere in years-- but the author thinks the clinking of his spurs adds an element to the eerie setting, but it doesn't.
The title character, Sam Pace, is surviving in a Ghost Town-- living off a little bit of meat, and a store of canned goods left by a storeowner who fled in the middle of the night. (not an uncommon thing in the old west)... Pace is about half crazy. Living alone with the wind, he has vivid dreams and at times sees images of those long dead or gone. He is caught off-guard by a rancher and his crew who claim that the town sits on his ranch. They beat and abuse him, then threaten to come back and if they find him there-- they will kill him. Little do they know, that this shell of a man once was a man to be reckoned with. The title character is well fleshed out, with his more outstanding characteristic being his own uncertainty about his mental status. The author made the hero seem like an old man in the early chapters, only later to indicate he is only in his thirties.. this was a bit confusing to me.
Suddenly more bad guys enter the picture. Deacon Santee is working with the rancher (but you know all about the old saying about honor among thieves) to sell a stolen herd to the army to use on the Apache reservation. Santee is something of a would-be preacher-- who in the fashion we've seen countless times before, spouts the Scripture for his own purposes, but is a cruel and immoral man, a cold-blooded killer. And, he is an abuser of women. He has a number of "wives" but one of them flees and winds her way to Apache Creek, where this killer chases her.
And this-- is the only real flaw I saw in this novel. Because suddenly there is a flood of bad guys. The Peacock brothers are chasing an old man and he winds up in Apache Creek, so they chase him there. The Peacock Brothers are sort of like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they are evil, killers.
Suddenly, a plethora of deadly killers descent on the town.
Now, this flaw is dealt with in a most interesting fashion and I won't offer the spoiler.. but the author figures out a really neat way of dealing with all these bad guys that doesn't make our hero into a cowboy superhero.
Finally, the end of the novel is not what I think most readers will expect.
Despite that fact that this was melodramatic western fiction-- the author manages to pull it all together and kept me up late turning the pages. This was a fun book. In fact, one of the best westerns I've read in many years. The language was appropriate, though the author felt like he had to use odd spellings to indicate accents, etc. which at times was a bit odd..
Finally-- a complaint about the PUBLISHER and not the book..
Ralph Compton was a real author-- after his death, Signet continues to publish books under his name, written by different authors. The stated purpose of this is to honor the author's legacy, but being a realist, I assume it is to make money off the dead author's name. This, of course, will confuse readers who pick up a title written by Compton and enjoy it and then purchase another novel by what they think is the same author (if they don't read the small print at the bottom of the cover) only to find that the story doesn't necessarily use the same style. This would be more honest if the book continues on a storyline began by Compton, featuring characters created by the late Compton.
This leaves me feeling conflicted about this practice in relation to the author's who actually write these books--
1) Don't they deserve to have a book actually published under their own name? Is the only way their works (in this case-- a decent western novel) can get published is using a dead author's name. In that case, my first book will be published under some dead author's name like Dickens or Poe. Or if I write a Western, perhaps I should use the psuedonym Louis L'Amour. Joseph West is the author of this book and deserves the credit.
2) Perhaps the author's might have negotiated the publication of the book, but using the dead author's name on the cover will ensure a few more royalties. After all, Joseph West, though a decent writer, perhaps won't sell as many as a best-selling author like Ralph Compton.
The author, Joseph West, (see notes at end of this review to see why I say that)-- does a good job of creating the eerie atmosphere of a ghost town. As I read it, I am reminded of countless western movies and television shows where the howling wind, the banging of doors, The creaking of wood, the sand pelting the wood siding of buildings, etc. The author gets it right! Okay, one minor error... he has our hero wearing spurs-- and though he does have a horse in the stable-- he hasn't been anywhere in years-- but the author thinks the clinking of his spurs adds an element to the eerie setting, but it doesn't.
The title character, Sam Pace, is surviving in a Ghost Town-- living off a little bit of meat, and a store of canned goods left by a storeowner who fled in the middle of the night. (not an uncommon thing in the old west)... Pace is about half crazy. Living alone with the wind, he has vivid dreams and at times sees images of those long dead or gone. He is caught off-guard by a rancher and his crew who claim that the town sits on his ranch. They beat and abuse him, then threaten to come back and if they find him there-- they will kill him. Little do they know, that this shell of a man once was a man to be reckoned with. The title character is well fleshed out, with his more outstanding characteristic being his own uncertainty about his mental status. The author made the hero seem like an old man in the early chapters, only later to indicate he is only in his thirties.. this was a bit confusing to me.
Suddenly more bad guys enter the picture. Deacon Santee is working with the rancher (but you know all about the old saying about honor among thieves) to sell a stolen herd to the army to use on the Apache reservation. Santee is something of a would-be preacher-- who in the fashion we've seen countless times before, spouts the Scripture for his own purposes, but is a cruel and immoral man, a cold-blooded killer. And, he is an abuser of women. He has a number of "wives" but one of them flees and winds her way to Apache Creek, where this killer chases her.
And this-- is the only real flaw I saw in this novel. Because suddenly there is a flood of bad guys. The Peacock brothers are chasing an old man and he winds up in Apache Creek, so they chase him there. The Peacock Brothers are sort of like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they are evil, killers.
Suddenly, a plethora of deadly killers descent on the town.
Now, this flaw is dealt with in a most interesting fashion and I won't offer the spoiler.. but the author figures out a really neat way of dealing with all these bad guys that doesn't make our hero into a cowboy superhero.
Finally, the end of the novel is not what I think most readers will expect.
Despite that fact that this was melodramatic western fiction-- the author manages to pull it all together and kept me up late turning the pages. This was a fun book. In fact, one of the best westerns I've read in many years. The language was appropriate, though the author felt like he had to use odd spellings to indicate accents, etc. which at times was a bit odd..
Finally-- a complaint about the PUBLISHER and not the book..
Ralph Compton was a real author-- after his death, Signet continues to publish books under his name, written by different authors. The stated purpose of this is to honor the author's legacy, but being a realist, I assume it is to make money off the dead author's name. This, of course, will confuse readers who pick up a title written by Compton and enjoy it and then purchase another novel by what they think is the same author (if they don't read the small print at the bottom of the cover) only to find that the story doesn't necessarily use the same style. This would be more honest if the book continues on a storyline began by Compton, featuring characters created by the late Compton.
This leaves me feeling conflicted about this practice in relation to the author's who actually write these books--
1) Don't they deserve to have a book actually published under their own name? Is the only way their works (in this case-- a decent western novel) can get published is using a dead author's name. In that case, my first book will be published under some dead author's name like Dickens or Poe. Or if I write a Western, perhaps I should use the psuedonym Louis L'Amour. Joseph West is the author of this book and deserves the credit.
2) Perhaps the author's might have negotiated the publication of the book, but using the dead author's name on the cover will ensure a few more royalties. After all, Joseph West, though a decent writer, perhaps won't sell as many as a best-selling author like Ralph Compton.
December 15, 2023
(c)2011 An awesome read from front to back. Post cholera, ghost town with one man still living in the past. Victim of rancher and others who feel he should be punished for their own problems. It is vivid, realistic, and very touching. Loved the book.
October 16, 2022
Easy read, unpredictable ending (Well maybe for someone who does not normally read this genre)
May 1, 2014
By far my favorite Ralph Compton book. The cover and title alone grabbed me and I just had to have it. What hit me the hardest was the isolation that Marshall Sam Pace went through. A solitary figure watching over a people and town long since gone and yet he remained vigilant. He clings to his memories, but that all changes when a woman comes to town and some really bad people are after her. He has to use his mind and skills, which, to be honest, haven't been challenged in a long time. Great western and a beautiful story.
July 26, 2016
Absolutely wretched writing. All characters are one dimensional, plot is only mildly interesting, and frankly the story is boring and predictable. However, there are zombies. I'll give a whole extra star just for that.
April 29, 2014
Everyone in the town of Apache Creek died of cholera and the marshal was the only one left. The town had been renamed REQIEM. The marshal held his ground and saw six gunfighters die of cholera after they drank water from the well. Good western. Kept me going.
January 24, 2012
great western and great notes at the end
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews