William (Bill) Knox was a Scottish author, journalist and broadcaster, best known for his crime novels and for presenting the long-running STV series Crimedesk.
Born in Glasgow, Knox became the youngest journalist for a Glasgow newspaper at age 16. He went on to report on crime, on motoring, and to become a news editor.
He began writing crime novels in the 1950s. Knox often wrote under pseudonyms, frequently for the American market. These included Michael Kirk, Robert MacLeod and Noah Webster. He published over 50 crime novels and westerns, including several series, notably the "Thane and Moss" books.
Apache Tears, by Robert MacLeod: A revenge novel, but one that rises above the standard. Powerful and emotional. It strongly affected me the first time I read it. One of my favorite non-L'Amour westerns.
Although it is a "historical novel," somehow it still feels dated. I put my feminist nature aside and just enjoyed it for what it was when it was written--it would not have seemed racist at the time.
Good adult western, worthy of 4 1/2 stars if it could be given. This book has an usual storyline as recent army sergeant leaves the army to go to work for an archaeologist and his daughter to study the Indian ruins in Arizona. They run into a couple of bad guys and murder and mayhem ensues. Highly recommended to western fans.