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The Floating Outfit #10
Trail Boss
Since Thad Toon had put the ‘Indian sign’ on Ben Holland’s spread, no cowhand would ride with the Rocking H’s trail drive. Just to make sure, a rough-cut gang of killers had been hired to keep it that way. Then Dusty Fog and the Floating Outfit rode into Granite City, and Dusty decided to take up the dare … and teach the Double T what Texas trail-bossing was all about!
John Thomas Edson (February 17 1928, died July 17 2014 ) JT Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback.
Edson's works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least 12 good fights per volume . Each portrays a vivid, idealised "West That Never Was", at a pace that rarely slackens.
His authentic descriptions of 19th-century weapons, his interest in what causes a gun to jam and in the mechanics of cheating at cards enjoyed a strong following, especially among serving British soldiers. But his accounts of catfights involving women punching, scratching and biting as they tear the clothes off each other in the mud, did not appeal to the new breed of feminist publishing executives. Others pointed out that a young man sent to Broadmoor for killing a Sunday School teacher claimed to have modelled himself on Edson's hero, the half-Comanche, half-Irish Ysabel Kid. There was also the novel The Hooded Riders (1968), which portrayed an organisation resembling the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic resistance group.
John Thomas Edson was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on February 17 1928, the son of a miner who was killed in an accident when John was nine. He left Shirebrook Selective Central School at 14 to work in a stone quarry and joined the Army four years later.
As a sergeant in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Edson served in Kenya during the Emergency, on one occasion killing five Mau Mau on patrol. He started writing in Hong Kong, and when he won a large cash prize in a tombola he invested in a typewriter.
On coming out of the Army after 12 years with a wife and children to support, Edson learned his craft while running a fish-and-chip shop and working on the production line at a local pet food factory. His efforts paid off when Trail Boss (1961) won second prize in a competition with a promise of publication and an outright payment of £50.
The publishers offered £25 more for each subsequent book, and with the addition of earnings from serial-writing for the comic Victor, Edson was able to settle down to professional authorship. When the comic's owners decided that nobody read cowboy stories any more, he was forced to get a job as a postman (the job had the by-product of enabling him to lose six stone in weight from his original 18).
Edson's prospects improved when Corgi Books took over his publisher, encouraged him to produce seven books a year and promised him royalties for the first time. In 1974 he made his first visit to the United States, to which he was to return regularly in search of reference books. He declared that he had no desire to live in the Wild West, adding: "I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things, and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle. My only contact was to shoot them for dog meat."
John Thomas Edson (February 17 1928, died July 17 2014 ) JT Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback.
Edson's works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least 12 good fights per volume . Each portrays a vivid, idealised "West That Never Was", at a pace that rarely slackens.
His authentic descriptions of 19th-century weapons, his interest in what causes a gun to jam and in the mechanics of cheating at cards enjoyed a strong following, especially among serving British soldiers. But his accounts of catfights involving women punching, scratching and biting as they tear the clothes off each other in the mud, did not appeal to the new breed of feminist publishing executives. Others pointed out that a young man sent to Broadmoor for killing a Sunday School teacher claimed to have modelled himself on Edson's hero, the half-Comanche, half-Irish Ysabel Kid. There was also the novel The Hooded Riders (1968), which portrayed an organisation resembling the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic resistance group.
John Thomas Edson was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on February 17 1928, the son of a miner who was killed in an accident when John was nine. He left Shirebrook Selective Central School at 14 to work in a stone quarry and joined the Army four years later.
As a sergeant in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Edson served in Kenya during the Emergency, on one occasion killing five Mau Mau on patrol. He started writing in Hong Kong, and when he won a large cash prize in a tombola he invested in a typewriter.
On coming out of the Army after 12 years with a wife and children to support, Edson learned his craft while running a fish-and-chip shop and working on the production line at a local pet food factory. His efforts paid off when Trail Boss (1961) won second prize in a competition with a promise of publication and an outright payment of £50.
The publishers offered £25 more for each subsequent book, and with the addition of earnings from serial-writing for the comic Victor, Edson was able to settle down to professional authorship. When the comic's owners decided that nobody read cowboy stories any more, he was forced to get a job as a postman (the job had the by-product of enabling him to lose six stone in weight from his original 18).
Edson's prospects improved when Corgi Books took over his publisher, encouraged him to produce seven books a year and promised him royalties for the first time. In 1974 he made his first visit to the United States, to which he was to return regularly in search of reference books. He declared that he had no desire to live in the Wild West, adding: "I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things, and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle. My only contact was to shoot them for dog meat."
- GenresWesterns
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1968
42 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
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 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 13, 2013
A typical Western, J T Edson has written a huge number of books, featuring his favourite Texans - Dusty Fog, Mark Counter and the Ysabel Kid.
What is interesting about 'Trail Boss', is his attention to detail, with a lot of research done into how these cowboys managed to handle the huge number of cattle during a trail drive, the dangers involved, details about the saddles, lassos and how they managed to work under very arduous conditions.
Besides this, he also describes their weapons well - Colt handguns and Winchester rifles, that his heroes and villains use, along-with the usual story-line of how the good guys eventually overcome the baddies...
What is interesting about 'Trail Boss', is his attention to detail, with a lot of research done into how these cowboys managed to handle the huge number of cattle during a trail drive, the dangers involved, details about the saddles, lassos and how they managed to work under very arduous conditions.
Besides this, he also describes their weapons well - Colt handguns and Winchester rifles, that his heroes and villains use, along-with the usual story-line of how the good guys eventually overcome the baddies...
April 30, 2020
Some of the names mentioned in these novels are real people.
That is where the similarity ends.
In many ways these are modern versions of the old dime novels. The only similarity to the truth are the fact that... The author mentions real people.
However if you just want to read an old fashion cowboy shoot em up, that's what these books are.
That is where the similarity ends.
In many ways these are modern versions of the old dime novels. The only similarity to the truth are the fact that... The author mentions real people.
However if you just want to read an old fashion cowboy shoot em up, that's what these books are.
July 21, 2021
If you want to know about a cattle trail back in the wild West days, this is the book to read.
Apart from the usual fun things associated with Dusty Fog and his cheerful companions, this book has the additional colorful depiction of the cattle trail life
Surely worth a read
Apart from the usual fun things associated with Dusty Fog and his cheerful companions, this book has the additional colorful depiction of the cattle trail life
Surely worth a read
March 11, 2018
Excellent!
This is another great western adventure with thrills and excitement galore. It is reasonably well written and edited. Well worth a Five Star rating!
This is another great western adventure with thrills and excitement galore. It is reasonably well written and edited. Well worth a Five Star rating!
February 7, 2020
Excellent
Great read. All of Edsons original works are very good. Only the late ones not so much. I own them all in original paperback!
Great read. All of Edsons original works are very good. Only the late ones not so much. I own them all in original paperback!
August 2, 2022
Another great Western tale by J T Edson, the master of the genre. Great story-line with the usual good triumphing over evil. Worht the read.
February 9, 2023
Exellent western.
August 20, 2023
The best
Trail boss is the best book in print. It tells the reader so much about the west. IT Edwin has it so right.
Trail boss is the best book in print. It tells the reader so much about the west. IT Edwin has it so right.
December 24, 2013
After being ambushed in Dodge City the year before Ben Holland, a kinsman of Dusty Fog, is unable to make the trip to Kansas. His neighbor, Thad Toon, takes advantage of the fact that Ben's wife Thora must fill his place and tries to keep her from getting a crew together. Unfortunately for him Old Devil Hardin has sent his floating outfit along to help out. Once word gets out that Dusty is bossing the drive they have the pick of the town. Those familiar with JT's Civil War series will remember Billy Jack and Kiowa (Dusty's sergeant major and scout respectively); both men were also members of the floating outfit in earlier stories. With a top notch crew assembled Dusty and the floating outfit take the herd to Dodge City and make the town in general, and one Wyatt Earp in particular, back down and hunt for cover. The Ysabel Kid finally meets up with an old enemy, Kliddoe, and reveals the secret of the third model Colt Dragoon he was using in place of a rifle in the first book of the series.
September 8, 2014
Another of my favourite J T Edson books. The description of how a Trail Boss choses his crew is excellent as is the description of the trials and tribulations faced on the trail.
April 2, 2017
Awesome
I use to read a lot of westerns and this is still one of the best.
Awesome read great story
I use to read a lot of westerns and this is still one of the best.
Awesome read great story
April 3, 2017
A fun read.
Read it for fun not for anything else. A basic good vis evil as are all these. A good reprint.
Read it for fun not for anything else. A basic good vis evil as are all these. A good reprint.
April 4, 2017
Far and away one of of not the best of JTE's Floating Outfit series. Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews