Waylander - David Gemmell

A different genre - more along the lines of  'Lord of the' books, though the narration is much fast paced. 

This is the story of the man called Waylander the Slayer. Though a mercenary he had lived by his own code. Having been tricked into killing an innocent man, The King at that, he is haunted by his conscience and the havoc his actions caused in the Drenai lands. To make matters worse, he is hunted by the Dark brotherhood and other enemies.

He gets ordered by the father of the slain King that the only way to seek redemption for his actions if to retrieve the legendary Armor of Bronze from a difficult shadow-haunted land and hand it to another, who could lead the Drenai army to victory. 

Finally the evil Kaem (who gave Waylander the contract to kill the king), the dark brotherhood and others are all defeated and Waylander the Slayer finds himself an unlikely hero.

Good narration, fast paced and good plot. 

A collection - JT Edson

I got a few more books from my friend and as per my request, he sent me some of the books from his JT Edson collection. 'The Small Texan' got me hooked on to westerns for now, so this is more for me to keep track of the titles I have read and to give a small gist of each.

TEXAS KIDNAPPERS

Ysabel Kid deals with a trip of robbers and the kidnappers of BettyHardin, granddaughter of Ole Devil Hardin. The criminal mastermind behind the whole incident was a reddish-brunette gone bad called Libby Craddock, who comes to an unsavory end while trying to steal the Kid's big white stallion.

CURE THE TEXAS FEVER

Captain Dusty Fog and his wife Freddie scheme and succeed in bringing a brilliant vet to Texas. His mission is to make an antidote for the 'texas fever ' that seems to follow the herds to the market, and threatened being banned from kansas and the railroad- to the ruin of the state of Texas.

To aid in this mission, they rope in Wax(Waxahachie Smith), who is a wanted man, but hopes to be pardoned on completing this mission. The enemies abound, but Dusty Fog had the right man for the mission.

THE MAN FROM TEXAS

John Chisum , the cattle king, plans a plot to be picked as the captain of round-up, planned  by a group of ranch owners. But the (un)timely arrival of a stranger puts paid to his ambitions since that stranger was Captain Dusty Fog.

OLE DEVIL'S HANDS AND FEET

Ole Devil Hardin, though cofined to a wheel chair, was the major force in Texas. And helping him in being so, were his floating outfit, otherwise known as his 'hands and feet'. Dusty Fog, Red Blaze, Doc Leroy, Mark Counter and Ysabel Kid. 

THE BAD BUNCH

They always made their raids when the poeple were diverted with fairs, or other such entertainment. Then they would set a fire far away from the target area and get on with raiding their chosen target, Dusty Fog, Mark Counter and the Ysabel Kid have a fair idea of the next target of the Bad bunch, but they find that the Bad bunch are not what they expected. Comprising of only women, led by Anna Gould, who once had led a bunch of men known as 'Hannah's Guerillas'. Dusty had destoyed that gang, but let her get away, thinking 'Hannah' had died on the attack. The bad bunch finally could'nt hold out against Belle Boyd, Belle Starr, Betty Hardin and Calamity Jane.

GUNS IN THE NIGHT

Belle Starr is murdered and Mark Counter is devastated to lose the woman he wanted to marry. Ysabel Kid and Dusty Fog. They trace the culprit to another woman called Bertha Ford. Calamity Jane too does her part.

 

Cause for Celebration - Gina Wilkins

MILLS & BOON - TEMPTATION

This is the very delightfully narrated love story of Grant Bryant and Merry James. Both are forceful personalities and achievers. Merry had to care for herself and her four siblings at a very young age and Grant and his partner had built up and successfully sold a multi -million dollar business...

'Cause for celebration' is the sweet story of how these special people overcame their natures to compromise and build a happy life together. One of my favourites by author Gina Wilkins.