Blood on Silver

Edge #5

by George G. Gilman

The Comstock Lode was one of the richest silver strikes the world had ever seen, and Edge was ready to claim his share. So was the Tabor gang--sadistic killers led by a renegade Quaker. But if the Tabors thought they could get Edge's silver, they were going to find another metal instead--hot lead!

Genres: Westerns

200 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

A pseudonym used by Terry Harknett.

Edge (61 books as George G. Gilman)
Adam Steele (49 books as George G. Gilman)
Edge Meets Adam Steele (3 books as George G. Gilman)
The Undertaker (6 books as George G. Gilman)

Reviews

[Mike]

Back in my younger days, I read a lot of these action westerns, along with Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan series, and the Remo Williams books. Short, quick, no excessive plot, but some snappy, and maybe sappy dialogue.

This Edge novel starts with our anti-hero riding in on a country wedding that turns bloody and brutal. The killers are looking for some silver that was stolen, and now want to steal. Fast moving.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The groom shot in the head, blood spoiling the white wedding cake as he gave his speech. Another shot a women gushing out blood and half digested food which fountained into the face of a wedding guest. Everybody massacred except the bride whose white wedding dress was smeared with globs of blood. Edge watches on from a safe distance in the protective stable, the killers unaware of his existence. The bride not giving away the details of millions of dollars worth of silver is killed then the gang rides away. Edge comes out of hiding and feasts on the beautifully prepared foods washing it down with champagne. Edge takes on a job to escort a wagon full of silver through dangerous terrain
He will have the help of a Zulu warrior. He will devise a plan to escape from a gang trying to steal the silver and blows up one of the wagons. The Zulu warrior will have to fight a Native American without weapons to the death and rip both his ears off. The silver will end up in the bottom of a bottomless lake and Edge will be pissed that he can't collect his delivery fee.

[John Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edge is looking for a meal and feed for his horse when he comes upon The Lucky Star Ranch, which seems deserted. He makes his way to the house and learns a wedding is taking place. They invite him to eat and celebrate with them. He takes his horse off to a barn when a large gang of men led by Jake Tabor arrives and kills everyone except the bride. She is tortured for information about a hidden cache of silver. Then she too is killed.

Once they ride off, Edge comes out of hiding and heads west where he is bushwhacked by two men. He captures them.

When he reaches Virginia City, he is hired to protect a silver shipment. They are attacked by Tabor’s men and a war party of Shoshone along the way.

This started off with a gruesome massacre. There are several more as the story unfolds. Edge never breaks any moral rules but he is never a hero.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoy this series so far, just simple action westerns. Edge has his own views of right and wrong and it doesn't necessarily match anybody else's. This time he ends up at the Comstock Lode, a rich silver strike, a man is trying to get a load of silver out to the west coast. The guy figures Edge is his man and for a price, Edge agrees. He will have to fight Indians, a large band of robbers and murders, while dealing with the man's daughter. Though Edge has a six and a half foot Zulu helping him.

Recommended, this series is a hoot as long as you just want a fun story and not wanting some great work of literature.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood and gore soaks the silver in this volume. Edge comes across a wedding that ends in a massacre. He rips off some bandits in a used up silver mine. Turns out one of the bandits was the leader of the wedding killers. Now he wants Edge dead. Some viscous Shoshone Indians spill some blood along the way. I would say out of the first five books, this is the most bloodiest and mean spirited of the bunch.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, another good book, but I felt it was a little too much at times. I gave it a lesser rating because of that. I thought the Quaker character was a little too much.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories are pretty fast moving and this one had some intersting characters. There is still a bit much unneccessary violence for me, though, and this will probably be the last one I read. At least for now.

[Hugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's perhaps a bit much to expect craft from these potboilers—and they're never less than enjoyably readable—but they do seem to have less a plot than a series of things that happen until everyone but Edge is dead.

[Ronald]

read some in 1980