The Hell Riders

by Mark Henry

While escorting the body Captain Hezekiah Roman to Arizona, Trap O'Shannon and Clay Madison, along with a Nez Perce woman who once fought by their side, must risk their own lives to bury a hero as their journey across the American West takes a deadly turn. Original.

254 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Mark Henry is also a pseudonym for Marc Cameron's western novels.

Reviews

[Dope Ghost Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read this Western, I was unaware it was actually a sequel and part of a book series. I read it standalone and had a fun time absorbing it in. I recently reread it and it's certainly not perfect: editing issues, noticable incorrect usage of grammar, and some plot points not making total sense do plague the book. However, it's still fast-paced and admittingly, still fun to read. It feels like a cheesy 1960's Western action vehicle but as a novel. Will I read any of the other books in the series? It's not on my bucket list, but if I cross paths with any of them, I'll give them a fair whirl.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Hell Riders, Mark Henry (western)
Jeff Book Review #206

The sequel to "Hard Road to Heaven" (my review #200), "Hell Riders" continues the saga of Trap, Clay, Patch, and Maggie as a train of pox-infected passengers is traveling through 1910 Montana and word needs to get ahead of it so that it can be quarantined. The author decides this book is really going to be about how stupid racism is, and also throws in a soap opera flashback story about how white Trap and Nez Perce Maggie fell in love 30 years prior. That flashback story then moves to a horror-filled kidnapping narrative as a Mexican girl is captured by some evil dudes with evil intent and the Apaches are involved somehow, while Trap and Clay are working as scouts for the Army against those Apaches, tracking to rescue the kidnapped woman.

A lot of people vomit in this book. That was important to the author to make the story more real.

Verdict: It's almost like Henry wanted to combine his favorite parts (and those are the worst parts) of Lonesome Dove, The Bounty Hunters, Blood Meridian, and Romeo and Juliet into one book. I hated it.

Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very interesting, but the story seemed unfinished to me. From Montana to Arizona in the late 1800's the story follows four calvary soldiers careers to the burial of their hero leader, dealing with various indian tribes of the regions at the time.