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Hellbenders #1
Hellbenders
Texas—1859
As the Rio Grande Valley reels from the onslaught of Cortina’s Mexican insurgents, a Tejano named Cardoza lays siege to a prominent rancho. Ranger Lin Jarret takes the assignment to ride to the defense, and he’s ready to fight the devil, not babysit pampered heiress Reece Sinclair—no matter how beautiful she is. Reece, however, holds more than one secret close to her breast—secrets shrouded in powder smoke, backed up with lead...and very dangerous for Lin Jarret.
When the Texas borderland explodes in all-out war, Lin Jarret is hurled into battle, his carbine and Colt .44 primed and ready. At his side is the surprisingly deadly Reece, a runaway slave with secrets of his own, and a hell-bending pack of wild shootists primed to kill.
Hellbenders is the first searing adventure in an exciting new Western series.
As the Rio Grande Valley reels from the onslaught of Cortina’s Mexican insurgents, a Tejano named Cardoza lays siege to a prominent rancho. Ranger Lin Jarret takes the assignment to ride to the defense, and he’s ready to fight the devil, not babysit pampered heiress Reece Sinclair—no matter how beautiful she is. Reece, however, holds more than one secret close to her breast—secrets shrouded in powder smoke, backed up with lead...and very dangerous for Lin Jarret.
When the Texas borderland explodes in all-out war, Lin Jarret is hurled into battle, his carbine and Colt .44 primed and ready. At his side is the surprisingly deadly Reece, a runaway slave with secrets of his own, and a hell-bending pack of wild shootists primed to kill.
Hellbenders is the first searing adventure in an exciting new Western series.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2021
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5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 2, 2022
1859 – Texas/Mexico border area.
The American Civil War is drawing closer to a reality, but the Mexican/American War is still on the minds of many in the Southwest. Cortina’s Mexican insurgents have just laid waste to a large chunk along the Rio Grande and now a Tejano named Cardoza has his sights set on taking over a ranch, with dreams of many more such targets to come. However, at the behest of his uncle, Texas Ranger Lin Jarret rides into the middle of this war, with the primary mission of watching out for Reece Sinclair, daughter of ranch owner Tom Sinclair, heiress to the large spread.
While he expects a spoiled rich girl, Reece turns out to be far more than he bargained for, fully capable of protecting herself and the ranch, all while leading a secret mission all her own. As an abolitionist, she finds a like-minded soul in Lin Jarret.
Author Richard Prosch is an experienced wordsmith, and his storytelling prowess is on full display here. While there is plenty of gunplay and action scenes to please those that thrive on such plots, this book is far more than that. I’ve read many a western novel in my time and rarely do I get to enjoy the characters of a novel as much as I did here. They really leap off the page, fully realized, complete with realistic personalities and motivations. They’re the type that could absolutely be real people. Even the minor characters (and there are quite a few), on both sides of the conflict, felt real to me. The author’s ability to capture the lingo and the sounds of the various cultures in the novel is truly impressive.
To avoid spoilers, I won’t provide a plot summary here but suffice it to say, that it unfolds nicely, well-paced, and with several surprises along the way. This despite a complex situation involving various factions all competing for the same thing. This first novel in a trilogy works as a stand-alone novel, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, but it’s easy to see how the scope of the conflict leaves room for more stories to be told. I’ll be turning to book number two, Seven Devils Road, pronto.
The American Civil War is drawing closer to a reality, but the Mexican/American War is still on the minds of many in the Southwest. Cortina’s Mexican insurgents have just laid waste to a large chunk along the Rio Grande and now a Tejano named Cardoza has his sights set on taking over a ranch, with dreams of many more such targets to come. However, at the behest of his uncle, Texas Ranger Lin Jarret rides into the middle of this war, with the primary mission of watching out for Reece Sinclair, daughter of ranch owner Tom Sinclair, heiress to the large spread.
While he expects a spoiled rich girl, Reece turns out to be far more than he bargained for, fully capable of protecting herself and the ranch, all while leading a secret mission all her own. As an abolitionist, she finds a like-minded soul in Lin Jarret.
Author Richard Prosch is an experienced wordsmith, and his storytelling prowess is on full display here. While there is plenty of gunplay and action scenes to please those that thrive on such plots, this book is far more than that. I’ve read many a western novel in my time and rarely do I get to enjoy the characters of a novel as much as I did here. They really leap off the page, fully realized, complete with realistic personalities and motivations. They’re the type that could absolutely be real people. Even the minor characters (and there are quite a few), on both sides of the conflict, felt real to me. The author’s ability to capture the lingo and the sounds of the various cultures in the novel is truly impressive.
To avoid spoilers, I won’t provide a plot summary here but suffice it to say, that it unfolds nicely, well-paced, and with several surprises along the way. This despite a complex situation involving various factions all competing for the same thing. This first novel in a trilogy works as a stand-alone novel, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, but it’s easy to see how the scope of the conflict leaves room for more stories to be told. I’ll be turning to book number two, Seven Devils Road, pronto.
August 25, 2021
Hellbenders, by Richard Prosch. First in a series. From Wolfpack Publishing.
Texas. 1859. With the Civil War looming on the doorstep to the future. Texas is a roiling hive of factions, all of them carrying guns. In the midst of this maelstrom, a few individuals work in secret to help runaway slaves escape to the north. They are called Hellbenders and at every moment their lives are at risk. Into this dangerous world rides Lin Jarrett, a Texas Ranger. He thinks he’s there to protect Reece Sinclair, the beautiful daughter of a Texas rancher. Turns out, he’s there for a lot more, and he better keep his Colt .44 loaded and ready.
This is the first in a new western series from Wolfpack Publishing. Richard Prosch is the author, and I’ve read nearly a dozen books by him and never been dissatisfied. He knows how to keep the action moving while creating interesting characters with depth and complexity. I was glad to see this new series from him, and set at such an interesting time in Texas. I greatly enjoyed it.
Texas. 1859. With the Civil War looming on the doorstep to the future. Texas is a roiling hive of factions, all of them carrying guns. In the midst of this maelstrom, a few individuals work in secret to help runaway slaves escape to the north. They are called Hellbenders and at every moment their lives are at risk. Into this dangerous world rides Lin Jarrett, a Texas Ranger. He thinks he’s there to protect Reece Sinclair, the beautiful daughter of a Texas rancher. Turns out, he’s there for a lot more, and he better keep his Colt .44 loaded and ready.
This is the first in a new western series from Wolfpack Publishing. Richard Prosch is the author, and I’ve read nearly a dozen books by him and never been dissatisfied. He knows how to keep the action moving while creating interesting characters with depth and complexity. I was glad to see this new series from him, and set at such an interesting time in Texas. I greatly enjoyed it.
August 28, 2021
Richard Prosch – Hellbenders Bk 1 – Hellbenders – Reviewed 8/26/21 – Read 8/24/21
When Lin Jarret’s uncle asked him to help out his friend, he couldn’t know he would find love!
Lin Jarret’s uncle asked him if he would go and help out one of his old friends down in the Rio Grande Valley, so he headed that way. Arriving in the area of the ranch he heard a girl cry out, riding that way he finds several men and a woman that are castrating and treating a few head of cattle. They were trying to put one of the calves in a chute so they could treat his eye. But due to his size, they were having a tough time and the calf was winning. Lin dropped down to help and the calf got the care he needed, then they let him join the others. As they finished up one of the men called out her name, Reese Sinclair, warning her to be careful, well she just happened to be the daughter of the man that he was looking to help out. Removing his gloves, he told her that he was pleased to meet her, and he introduced himself, but before she could speak a line of seven men pushed through the tree toward them shooting off their guns. Lin made sure that he covered her.
The seven men were all riding red stallions with expensive tack, and dressed to the nines, with leather dusters, throwing reatas in wide loops in the sky. Grabbing Reese, they mounted his horse, and he pulled the short barrel Maynard that he was carrying. The men started pulling down the corral posts. The newcomers were stirring up the cattle to make them run. Reese’s men were doing their darndest the deal with the men, but they were on the ground. Reese reacted to this and turned Lin’s horse around going right into the middle of the stampeding cattle, the horse reared, dumping Lin on his butt. Diving to get out of the way, losing his rifle, he rolled right under one of the intruders. He pointed his gun at Lin but before he could shoot one of Reese’s vaqueros jumped him, knocking him to the ground, and with his razor-sharp castrating knife dispatched him. With more action going including obscene gestures and remarks to Reese, she was told by the leader that she had one week to vacate the area. Even when Lin told them he was a Texas Ranger, he was told he better leave with Reese and her father.
Join Lin and Reese as Lin learns what the problems of the ranch are and what they wanted him to do…
What did I like? I was certainly interested when I found out what part of the problem was at the ranch and how in reality it certainly did happen back in 1829. It is such a fascinating story of how it all came about and those that were involved with it. I don’t want to give away the book, so I am going to just leave this as a teaser. When you finish, I suggest that you look up the accounts and read the history of this event.
What will you like? Other than what I have mentioned above, you are going to find one heck of a storyline that is filled with intrigue, corruption, deceit, gunplay, owlhoots, Native Americans, and a touch of romance. The characters are remarkable and noteworthy. If you are like me, you will find this is truly a thought-provoking storyline that will grab you in the beginning and won’t let go till you discover the mystery at the end. I know it hit me and I read the whole thing in one day, even with life rearing its annoying head! This is just the beginning of the series, and I can’t wait for book two which will be out next month, till then enjoy Richard Prosch’s new book “Hellbenders” available NOW!!!
• ASIN: B099X9XPB2
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• Publication Date: 8/25/2021
• File Size: 3800 KB
• Print Length: 296 pages
• Genre: Louis L'Amour Westerns, Western Fiction Classics, Classic American Fiction
When Lin Jarret’s uncle asked him to help out his friend, he couldn’t know he would find love!
Lin Jarret’s uncle asked him if he would go and help out one of his old friends down in the Rio Grande Valley, so he headed that way. Arriving in the area of the ranch he heard a girl cry out, riding that way he finds several men and a woman that are castrating and treating a few head of cattle. They were trying to put one of the calves in a chute so they could treat his eye. But due to his size, they were having a tough time and the calf was winning. Lin dropped down to help and the calf got the care he needed, then they let him join the others. As they finished up one of the men called out her name, Reese Sinclair, warning her to be careful, well she just happened to be the daughter of the man that he was looking to help out. Removing his gloves, he told her that he was pleased to meet her, and he introduced himself, but before she could speak a line of seven men pushed through the tree toward them shooting off their guns. Lin made sure that he covered her.
The seven men were all riding red stallions with expensive tack, and dressed to the nines, with leather dusters, throwing reatas in wide loops in the sky. Grabbing Reese, they mounted his horse, and he pulled the short barrel Maynard that he was carrying. The men started pulling down the corral posts. The newcomers were stirring up the cattle to make them run. Reese’s men were doing their darndest the deal with the men, but they were on the ground. Reese reacted to this and turned Lin’s horse around going right into the middle of the stampeding cattle, the horse reared, dumping Lin on his butt. Diving to get out of the way, losing his rifle, he rolled right under one of the intruders. He pointed his gun at Lin but before he could shoot one of Reese’s vaqueros jumped him, knocking him to the ground, and with his razor-sharp castrating knife dispatched him. With more action going including obscene gestures and remarks to Reese, she was told by the leader that she had one week to vacate the area. Even when Lin told them he was a Texas Ranger, he was told he better leave with Reese and her father.
Join Lin and Reese as Lin learns what the problems of the ranch are and what they wanted him to do…
What did I like? I was certainly interested when I found out what part of the problem was at the ranch and how in reality it certainly did happen back in 1829. It is such a fascinating story of how it all came about and those that were involved with it. I don’t want to give away the book, so I am going to just leave this as a teaser. When you finish, I suggest that you look up the accounts and read the history of this event.
What will you like? Other than what I have mentioned above, you are going to find one heck of a storyline that is filled with intrigue, corruption, deceit, gunplay, owlhoots, Native Americans, and a touch of romance. The characters are remarkable and noteworthy. If you are like me, you will find this is truly a thought-provoking storyline that will grab you in the beginning and won’t let go till you discover the mystery at the end. I know it hit me and I read the whole thing in one day, even with life rearing its annoying head! This is just the beginning of the series, and I can’t wait for book two which will be out next month, till then enjoy Richard Prosch’s new book “Hellbenders” available NOW!!!
• ASIN: B099X9XPB2
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• Publication Date: 8/25/2021
• File Size: 3800 KB
• Print Length: 296 pages
• Genre: Louis L'Amour Westerns, Western Fiction Classics, Classic American Fiction
August 25, 2021
The subtitle of HELLBENDERS – “A Traditional Western Novel” – is both apt and not quite true at the same time. It is indeed written in a style that’s like classic Western novels from the 1950s and 1960s. There are no unnecessary X-rated sex scenes or f-bombs. The main male character, Texas Ranger Lin Jarret, is not some overly conflicted or troubled antihero. He’s a good guy and a tough hombre. The bad guys are truly bad men who deserve and eventually get their just desserts. But Prosch smartly updates some aspects of the story so it will also appeal to readers who were born after the ‘60s. The main female character is a Texas rancher’s daughter named Reece Sinclair. She’s tough herself, handy with guns, intelligent, and committed to a cause that was generally unpopular in Texas in the mid-1800s: the abolition of slavery. Those aspects make HELLBENDERS a bit fresher than many old Western novels. Lin helps Reece fight to keep her ranch from being stolen by force, in a series of violent confrontations that end with a big, satisfying bang of a finale. I’m a fan of Prosch, both as a writer and as co-host (with writer Paul Bishop) of the excellent Six-Gun Justice Podcast, which gives listeners a deep dive into Western novels, movies, TV shows and history. His novel HELLBENDERS and his other Western novels, reflect the depth of his knowledge and his skill as a writer. I enjoyed and recommend this first novel in a planned series and look forward to reading the next — SEVEN DEVILS ROAD.
October 5, 2021
If you are looking for an action packed western, don't look further than Prosch's first book in this series. Likable characters, great story, and lots of action. Prosch did a great job of weaving the events of the times into the story as well. Can't wait to have time to read the next book in the Hellbenders series.
September 1, 2023
Lin Jarret Is a Ranger who is cast in the middle of a border war when he is assigned to help protect a rancero that is under attack. When he arrives, he is given the job of protecting the owner's daughter. There is much more to Reese Sinclair than meets the eye and it is a good thing too as the action quickly heats up.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews