Sunday, February 22, 2009

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.