Mike Linaker is, like me, a Brit who writes westerns. He’s written under
various names, producing traditional Westerns under the name RICHARD WYLER,
creating and writing a pair of successful Western series, Bodie the Stalker and
Brand, under the name NEIL HUNTER, and continuing the Frank Angel series as
FREDERICK H. CHRISTIAN. In addition, he's written a number of Mack Bolan
novels, as well as contributing entries to some of the Bolan spin-off series,
and authoring the science fiction/police procedural series Cade.
Mike, writing as NEIL HUNTER, began his series featuring bounty hunter Bodie ‘The Stalker’ with TRACKDOWN. Bodie is hired by tycoon and aspiring politician Lyle Trask to hunt down the notorious Reefer gang, who terrorise the lawless U.S./ Mexico border country.
Historical evidence for old west bounty-hunters
(at least those not after Native American scalps) seems to be sketchy. I have
blogged about some of these men – from Charles Siringo to scalp-hunters like
James Kirker – before.
Scalp-hunter James Kirker
The most famous was probably Tom Horn, (1860 –
1903) but even he never called himself a bounty hunter. He referred to himself
as a ‘cattle detective’ or a ‘range detective.’ Horn started off as an army
scout pursuing Apaches in Arizona, and was present at Geronimo’s final
surrender in 1886.
A young Tom Horn with Apache scouts
He later served as a deputy sheriff in
Colorado, went on to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency and hired out to
various Wyoming cattle outfits. A rancher said of him: ‘He classed cattle
thieves with wolves and coyotes, and looked upon himself as a benefactor of
society in destroying them.’ He was reported to have said: ‘Killing men is my
speciality. I look at it as a business proposition, and I think I have a corner
on the market.’ His controversial life
ended after he was accused of shooting a 14-year old boy from ambush. Found
guilty of murder, he climbed the Cheyenne, Wyoming gallows on November 20th 1903.
Tom Horn in gaol awaiting execution
Whatever the reality, bounty hunters are certainly
popular with western writers. As well as featuring often in western novels,
they were common on screen during the heyday of the TV Western. Steve McQueen
made an appearance as bounty hunter Josh Randall in the 50s TV western series
also called ‘Trackdown.’ This made
such an impact it got him his own spin off TV series ‘Wanted Dead or Alive.’
Steve McQueen and Robert Culp in ‘Trackdown’
In the movies bounty hunters have been played by
everyone from Henry Fonda to Randolph Scott. After ‘Rawhide’ Clint Eastwood re-launched his career spectacularly
playing ‘the man with no name’ in the so-called ‘Dollar Trilogy’ of ‘Spaghetti
Westerns.’
Reviews of TRACKDOWN:
‘This is an
action-packed story and I didn't put it down until I finished it.’
‘This book starts with
a bang and just rockets along, propelled by Hunters lean prose.’
‘Top notch western.’
No comments:
Post a Comment