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Jubal Cade 1: The Killing Trail
Raised in a Chicago foundling home, Jubal Cade went to England to learn medicine and returned to his native land with a wife and a dream.
But a cruel world sets little store by dreams and as Jubal moved westwards he found himself on a killing trail. Violence stalked him every foot of the way and sudden death lurked close to every campsite. The harsh reality of flying fists and whining bullets shattered the dream and Jubal was forced to acknowledge the truth about himself.
With sparkling white snow stained by the ghastly red of blood, the final tattered remnants of the dream were ripped away—although he had been taught to heal, his destiny was to kill.
The Jubal Cade Series by Charles R. Pike
The Killing Trail
… and still to
Double Cross
The Hungry Gun
Killer Silver
Vengeance Hunt
The Burning Man
The Golden Dead
Death Wears Grey
Days of Blood
The Killing Ground
Brand of Vengeance
Bounty Road
Ashes and Blood
The Death Pit
Angel of Death
Mourning Is Red
Bloody Christmas
Time of the Damned
The Waiting Game
Spoils of War
The Violent Land
Gallows Bait
But a cruel world sets little store by dreams and as Jubal moved westwards he found himself on a killing trail. Violence stalked him every foot of the way and sudden death lurked close to every campsite. The harsh reality of flying fists and whining bullets shattered the dream and Jubal was forced to acknowledge the truth about himself.
With sparkling white snow stained by the ghastly red of blood, the final tattered remnants of the dream were ripped away—although he had been taught to heal, his destiny was to kill.
The Jubal Cade Series by Charles R. Pike
The Killing Trail
… and still to
Double Cross
The Hungry Gun
Killer Silver
Vengeance Hunt
The Burning Man
The Golden Dead
Death Wears Grey
Days of Blood
The Killing Ground
Brand of Vengeance
Bounty Road
Ashes and Blood
The Death Pit
Angel of Death
Mourning Is Red
Bloody Christmas
Time of the Damned
The Waiting Game
Spoils of War
The Violent Land
Gallows Bait
- GenresWesterns
140 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Charles R. Pike
50 books3 followersCharles R. Pike is a pseudonym that three different authors wrote under. The pseudonym was only used to write the Jubal Cade series.
Terry Harknett wrote the first three in the series 1)The Killing Trail 2) Double Cross and 3) The Hungry Gun. After these three, Harknett passed the baton on to Angus Wells who wrote all the remaining books in the Jubal Cade series except one which was wrote by Kenneth Bulmer.
Kenneth Bulmer wrote 11) Brand of Vengeance
Terry Harknett wrote the first three in the series 1)The Killing Trail 2) Double Cross and 3) The Hungry Gun. After these three, Harknett passed the baton on to Angus Wells who wrote all the remaining books in the Jubal Cade series except one which was wrote by Kenneth Bulmer.
Kenneth Bulmer wrote 11) Brand of Vengeance
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 19, 2023
I thought this was going to be a revenge story but, even though it takes place in the Wild West, it ended up being more like a post-apocalyptic survival novel. Terry Harknett (Charles R. Pike was one of his many, many pseudonyms) gives us a Wild West where you are always in danger of being bushwhacked at any minute by psychos on the trail or, if you live in town, you run the danger of those same psychos murdering you and every one of your neighbors for laughs while everyone is helpless to stop them.
In this bleak world we follow Jubal Cade and his new bride as they try to make their way out West from New York City, getting beaten, shot at, stolen from, and kidnapped along the way (along with anyone unfortunate enough to befriend them). Jubal Cade is a doctor and I thought that would play a more important part in the story but it really doesn't come up that much. He could have been a shoe salesman and the plot would be largely unaffected.
This also has a lot less violence than Harknett's most famous series, Edge. This actually made the book feel a lot darker, though, because when violence did erupt you weren't desensitized to it and it was almost always sudden and shocking. Edge is like an ultraviolent cartoon while this is more like Cormac Mccarthy's The Road.
Overall, this was enjoyable for what it was. I don't think I will rush out and find the second volume any time soon but I don't regret picking it up. Fans of Spaghetti Westerns or very bleak novels will likely find something to enjoy here.
In this bleak world we follow Jubal Cade and his new bride as they try to make their way out West from New York City, getting beaten, shot at, stolen from, and kidnapped along the way (along with anyone unfortunate enough to befriend them). Jubal Cade is a doctor and I thought that would play a more important part in the story but it really doesn't come up that much. He could have been a shoe salesman and the plot would be largely unaffected.
This also has a lot less violence than Harknett's most famous series, Edge. This actually made the book feel a lot darker, though, because when violence did erupt you weren't desensitized to it and it was almost always sudden and shocking. Edge is like an ultraviolent cartoon while this is more like Cormac Mccarthy's The Road.
Overall, this was enjoyable for what it was. I don't think I will rush out and find the second volume any time soon but I don't regret picking it up. Fans of Spaghetti Westerns or very bleak novels will likely find something to enjoy here.
July 2, 2023
Jubal Cade comes back from England with a medical degree and a new wife. He lands in New York. They plan to head west and see the unblemished country. Bad luck hits them right off. Buying a stolen wagon and getting beat up for his trouble, Jubal heads out. Death follows every mile of the trail.
The first in the series was penned by none other than Terry (George G. Gilman) Harknett the author of the great Edge series. This is just as bloody and gloomy as those books. Bad things happen to good people, and no one really gives a damn.
The first in the series was penned by none other than Terry (George G. Gilman) Harknett the author of the great Edge series. This is just as bloody and gloomy as those books. Bad things happen to good people, and no one really gives a damn.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews