Troubled Border: A Classsic Western adventure

by Simon Fairfax

Plainsman series book 4

Troubled Border

A foiled bank robbery could lead to another major war.

At the trailhead Nate Carlton enters a bank as it is being robbed, unaware that his life will change forever. All but one of the gang lie dead, yet this is no ordinary raid. Nate learns that the money was for a cause, more deadly and with greater ramifications than the recent war that tore the country apart.
Desperate to forget the past horrors of the Civil war, he is reluctantly drawn into a terrible conflict, enlisting with the rebels to save both his adopted country and that of a land he abandoned. He finds that his estranged brother is involved, and wanted dead or alive.
Can he survive within the rebel camp, and help prevent a new conflict and save his brother?

Buy Troubled Border today to find out if Nate can prevent a war and save his brother’s life?

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2025

About the author

Simon Fairfax writes in three different genres: International financial thrillers, medieval fiction and Classic Westerns.
He is a former Chartered Surveyor, Editor of an online polo magazine (having played for a number of years) and practiced martial arts, fencing and shooting. He now restore old classic sports cars for fun.

As a lover of crime thrillers and espionage, Simon turned what is seen by others as a dull 9 – 5 job into something that is exciting, as close to real life as possible, with Rupert Brett, his unwilling hero.

The medieval series now has 6 books released in a 6 book series. The first A Knight and a Spy 1410 set in a tumultuous time at the English court. It tells the story of Jamie de Grispere squire in training and his two companions as they fight the French to save Calais, Welsh treason and Scottish revolts. The final book in the series, A Knight and a Spy 1415 is now available.
Details of all his books can be found at www.simonfairfax.com or email him at simonfairfaxauthor@gmail.com

Reviews

[Ken W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent writing.

I’m still giving this 4 stars… 3.75 rounded up actually. I still love the character of Nate. But this wasn’t the “western” I was hoping for. Nate went to New York to reunite with his brother and, like always, found trouble. He got mixed up in a battle between an Irish gang invading Canada. 🤷🏻‍♂️ kind of interesting but not what I’ve come to expect from this particular series. Anyway, well written story with an exceptional main character. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

[Robert Renshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed all 4 Plainsman books and look forward to book 5. Also really enjoyed all Simon's Rupert Brett books and his medieval books involving his hero Sir James de Grispere. I have read all Simons books that have been published so far and look forward to his good work continuing.
Keep writing Simon.

[Samantha Burnell]

A cracking Fast Paced Read

Another solid and enjoyable instalment in the series. Well researched and well written, as you'd expect from this author. Looking forward to the next in series to find out where the trail leads to next.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars ...

I will preface by sayin' that I thoroughly enjoyed the previous 3 books in this "western" series and, of course, was very much lookin' forward to this installment.

Now this ...
I generally don't read reviews until after I've read the book. Don't want them to influence my expectations, enjoyment, or lack of. Having finished, I see that pretty much everyone agrees. This, folks, is NOT a "classsic (yes, that's what it says 👆up there👆) western". The vast majority of this one takes place in New York City, Vermont, north to the Canadian border. Notice that nowhere in that blurb is this fact mentioned. 🤨 Now I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, which this certainly is, but that is most definitely not what I signed up for when diving into this "classsic western".

The writing is still great and I do love me some Nate Carlton ... but this was a huge misstep by the author and I was quite disappointed in the plot.

[Keith Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointing

I waited eagerly for this book but was slightly disappointed. The New York and Canada sections were very Boys Own Adventure and nowhere near as believable as the Western sections at the beginning and end. Even Nate seemed different; if this was intentional, to show him out of his comfort zone, it didn't work.
The book was like two novellas, poorly stuck together. Pity. Let's hope Nate has more adventures back in Texas.

[Stacey Lotshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but not much western

Using actual historical events was interesting and informative about an almost war that I had never heard about. But I prefer my westerns to be in the west.

[John Roach, · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book great series