The Saga of the O'Brien Clan by William W. Johnstone

The Brothers O'Brien by William W. Johnstone Shadow of the Hangman by William W. Johnstone Published by Pinnacle Books, February and April 2012, respectively.

Some of the most engaging western stories are about families: Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Sons of Katie Elder, How the West Was Won/The Macahans come to mind. Of course, these are all TV series and movies, but any number of stories by Thomas Thompson and Tom W. Blackburn also fit in the mold. Louis L'Amour's Sackett saga may be the top contender for expansive version of this sub-genre. Author William W. Johnstone — and the folks now behind the WWJ brand — certainly understood and understand the appeal of the family saga. One can easily argue that every one of the various WWJ series is in some way or other a family saga. One of the two newest WWJ series has its feet firmly planted in the family saga mold, that of The Brothers O'Brien. The opening book of the series describes the establishing of the O'Brien clan's ranch, Dromore, by Shamus, his wife Saraid, and his segundo Luther Ironside. Four boys are born to the O'Briens before the death of the missus, and this band of gritty men face off any threats to their independence or the well-being of Dromore.

In both of the series' first two novels, the villains are truly evil. In the first novel, a scheming daughter of a Mexican landowner brings about the death of her own father as she schemes to bring the wealth of the O'Briens under her control. In the second, honest-to-goodness Satan worshippers plot revenge on the O'Briens for the hanging of family member after caught rustling ten years earlier. One wonders if this O'Briens-against-the-forces-of-Hell's-evils will be a continuing theme for the series. The writing styles for the two books differ, suggesting two ghost-writers are behind the books, but the characterizations are consistent, and J.A. Johnstone or someone has done a good job checking continuity. The various members of the cast are engaging and entertaining to follow in their interactions with one another and with other characters. Like other WWJ series, this one likely will go long and far.

The Trail of Whitened Skulls: The Cole Lavery Saga

The Trail of Whitened Skulls: The Cole Lavery Saga, by Tom W. Blackburn (Waterville, Maine: Five Star), 2006.

Cowboys! That’s what I wanted to read about by the end of last year. By the time the holiday season arrived I was ready for a cowboy-reading binge. So I started with a recent collection published by Five Star, The Trail of Whitened Skulls: The Cole Lavery Saga, by Tom W. Blackburn. To my knowledge, this is the first work by Blackburn I’ve read.

It’s quite good, and I recommend it. Five stories plus an informative Foreword by Jon Tuska. Blackburn lends a nice sense of history and authenticity to his tales by including appropriate details along with the characters’ awareness of their place as players in a larger tide of life.

For example, at one point Cole thinks, “The country was in Marta’s blood as it was in his, then. Time was the thing they had. Out of time and a little courage and a bright hopefulness, anything could be built.” (“Trail of Whitened Skulls,” 149) From a strictly critical aspect, such thoughts might seem sentimental, anachronistic or post-modern, but passages such as this lift these stories from mere action yarns to solid mainstream entertainment. They are the sort of messages one finds built into the western stories of Louis L'Amour and the western films of John Ford.

This sense of history and a character's place within its march is probably a good reason Blackburn was tapped to work on certain TV shows with historical settings, such as Walt Disney's Davy Crockett and Johnny Tremain, Daniel Boone, The Virginian, Maverick, Cheyenne, and others.

For Christmas I received from my brother the February 1949 issue of Zane Grey’s Western Magazine, which coincidentally included another Blackburn story, “Mother Lode Mutiny.” This tale is set in a California gold camp, where a trouble-shooter — similar in some ways to Cole Lavery — cuts his way into the success of a town by outsmarting a greedy, under-handed villain. Again, Blackburn imparts a sense of historical authenticity with details that place its fictional drama within the context of larger actual events.

This sense of historicity is apparently an element Blackburn included in his work throughout his career. He wrote a number of scripts for TV westerns and for various incarnations of Walt Disney's television show, including The Saga of Andy Burnett and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. Considering this latter item, Blackburn also gets writing credit for "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" -- which has taken its place among the nation's folksongs.

You can find the paperback edition of The Trail of Whitened Skulls at Amazon.com by clicking here.