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Civil War #12
The Bloody Border
The Texas border was the Confederacy's last hope of winning the war. And that made it the bloodiest battleground. Smuggling fifteen grand across to mercenaries would take every disguise the legendary Rebel Spy could master, every weapon she could conceal...and the help of the Ysabels too. Belle was as lead-spitting deadly as she was beautiful. The Ysabels were Mosby's roughest Raiders. But moving just a hoofbeat ahead of the Yank Secret Service, they still had a hell-bound showdown with border thieves, deserters and the Mexican Army ahead.
- GenresWesterns
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
J.T. Edson
183 books79 followersJohn Thomas Edson is an English writer of Westerns.
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 6, 2018
This book is starring The Rebel spy-Belle Boyd and Sam Ysabel and his son The Ysabel kid
March 21, 2014
The first book I read by JT was The Ysabel Kid (the first book in the Floating Outfit series) and so it makes me slightly sad to see the wonderful relationship Sam Ysabel had with his son prior to his murder. Especially since the men responsible for that murder also feature in this story. While Sam Ysabel previously made several appearances in the Civil War series (most notably assisting Dusty Fog during the events of The Devil Gun) during his time with Mosby's Raiders at this point he and his son have been sent to smuggle much needed supplies across the border. Since this was how they made their living before the war they have all the right friends in the required 'low places'. Their background makes them essential to a last ditch plot to hire a band of French mercenaries to aide the Confederacy. Belle Boyd has been sent to handle the negotiations, but she'll never be able to navigate the bloody border country without the Ysabel's help. Interestingly, it is in this book that the Kid first dons his soon-to-be-iconic all-black clothing. As if their task wasn't dangerous enough Belle is up-against her equally clever Union counterpart who has retained the services of the men who will eventually bushwhack Sam Ysabel and send his son on a collision course with the Confederate Captain and Lieutenant by the names of Dusty Fog and Mark Counter. At one point in this story the Kid considers stealing a dangerous outlaw's prize horse, how he later carries out this ambition is told in his chapter of The Texan and it's expansion Old Moccasins on the Trail.
October 22, 2011
Good western from JT Edson....features Ysabel Kid (without DUsty Fog) and the rebel spy...Belle Boyd;
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews