The Hellbound Posse

by Robert J. Randisi, Ralph Compton

In this fast-paced new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton's Gunfighter series, the tables are turned on a posse when they become the hunted.

Three men rode into Hades, New Mexico, to rob a bank. Only two rode out.

Sheriff Wilson Carter killed one of the bandits in the middle of Main Street. Now he and his posse are after the two fleeing criminals. He doesn't know that the bad guys are part of a much larger gang. Nor does he know that the two men are racing to meet up with their comrades, and that the corpse on Main Street was once the brother of the psychotic gang leader.

Sheriff Wilson Carter is about to find out what it's like to be hunted.

Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2021

About the author

Robert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.

Reviews

[Harold Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books story moved very quick and the writing style gives you a great sense of all the different viewpoints of all the characters.

[Delores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting from beginning to the end, with authentic, believable and engaging characters. This book offers one heck of a ride!!!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not find the correct image for the copy of this book I read. The description is also slightly inaccurate, because the name of the town in the book was Cactus, Texas, not Hades.

With that said... With minor flaws, this is a competently written western novel. I'm not certain that this novel belongs in the "Gunfighter" series. The story involves a number of ordinary men who join a posse. There is not a single hero. The Sheriff leads the posse, but his former deputy, who reluctantly joins the posse tends to take the lead. The posse is a ragtag group, including two elderly men, and they don't realize that they've taken to chasing a group of men who are part of a much larger outlaw gang. Eventually, they will become the hunted instead of the hunters and there will be a huge race back to their hometown.

The minor flaws are things like wrapping up the action far too quickly, trying to throw in an Indian encounter that just seems out of place with the rest of the book, etc.

Still, it was an enjoyable book and not bad.

[David Burnworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The small town of Cattus, Texas just get a new bank built soon after it is robbed and burnt to the ground. Sheriff Tom Bregman puts together a makeshift posse to track down the scum. What the posse learns is the robbers are part of a gang that lawmen know has run rapidly over the west for over a decade. They soon catch up with the robbers only to have one get away and alert the rest of the gang. Soon the hunters become the hunted and must fight for their lives. Who wins this epic battle can only be found, if you take the time to read this four-star book.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

New bank in Cactus, TX. is robbed by three brothers and three other guys. Sheriff Tom Bregman, his deputy, several other town’s people and cowboys go after them. However, these bank robbers are a smaller band of a bigger group called the Miller gang. The three brother’s dad is the leader. Very interesting story.

[CarolewithanE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book until the very end. Seems a bit of a reach that you can call in the army yet the bad guy gets away?