Jory Sherman (1932–2014)

I picked this one up because the cover promised an “adult” Western, I hoped for some real shock value or at minimum a little porn thrown in to something that could be considered an actual Western genre story.
Some reviews and tags describe this book as “grimdark,” but frankly, only the initial SA aftermath scene qualifies due to its explicitness. Other than that, the atmosphere is virtually nonexistent, and the landscape is a bland, generic Western cliché. It is best described as show more ‘Adult’, so credit to the cover design, but that is neither here nor there. However, before I get into the review proper, I do have to admit that I’m a sucker for shock buzzwords on a cover, especially a western. You think I would’ve learned my lesson by now, but c’mon, ya never know, there might be a good or genuinely shocking one waiting for me to discover somewhere.
There is some sex in here, which is graphic and essentially pornographic (in a single scene). Of course, this instance is also utterly hilarious. The love interest, who is much younger than the protagonist, uses her father’s convalescence from a heart attack as an opportunity to seduce the hero (the titular Gunn - eyeroll), leading to a seemingly out-of-nowhere sex scene. It made me laugh. Additionally, the hero scarecrowing the corpses of dead deputies that had been hunting him to support his disguise was also very silly, dumb, but very silly. Frankly, if the novel had more of this unintentional chicanery, I would have loved it.
Barely a Western, it resembles more the Men’s Adventure genre with the almost complete lack of characterization, minimal background or landscape details, though in the first third, the landscape does play a part, which filled me with higher hopes for this thing than it actually deserved. The story wraps up so quickly and conveniently that it made me laugh (derisively). There’s also a last-minute twist; his new younger girlfriend (from the graphic sex scene) actually shot his wife after she was horribly assaulted because she thought the woman might be crippled by the assault and wanted to spare him her infirmity. She also wanted him all to herself (because lonely?).
This book was bad. It’s the barest Western possible and has no significant characterization at all. The towns are all the same, typically described with an opening line about how they were legally founded; nothing else characterizes them at all. There’s no more graphic violence in here than a normal western; there is a graphic sex scene, one graphic sex scene, and the whole reads like a Men’s Adventure story, a genre which I absolutely hate (especially those from the 1970s), and thus is not, in my opinion, worth reading at all. In fact, the best parts of the book I already mentioned, and that’s that. show less

I really enjoyed Jory Sherman's Sidewinder.

After surviving a rattlesnake attack, rancher Brad Storm befriends a couple of Native Americans who make a necklace out of the snake's rattles and name him Sidewinder.

A deal is struck and Brad finds himself escorting some cattle to the Indian village for a large profit. He is unaware that some ruthless rustlers have an eye on his ranch...

He returns to find his house torched, his cattle rustled and his wife kidnapped.

I quite liked Mr. Sherman's show more writing. His description is almost painterly, very detailed and at times unexpectedly lovely. Which makes it funny that he is also expert at building tension and action.

To my mind, the pacing is off a bit. After a slow beginning detailing Brad's interaction with the natives, the second half of the book just barrels along as the bad guys attack and Sidewinder seeks his vengeance. Both halves of the book are interesting, but the switch in tone is jarring.

His characters don't really have any depth to them, but his good guys are good (in a nice touch, Brad picks up the habit of shaking the snake's rattles to spook his enemies, though picturing Brad standing there, six gun in hand, shaking rattles made a funny picture in my head) and his villains are interesting and very, very bad (the villainous Coombs family and their fortress of a home was one of the highlights of the book for me).

I appreciated his presentation of Natives and the positive portrayal of the Mexican characters (who don't always fare as well in Westerns as they do here).

The book could use some editing. The character Wading Crow's name changes to Walking Crow and back. It's implied that Brad was at home sleeping as he is tracking a missing cow and he cuts his hand to clean out the snakebite only to have the Natives do the same when they find him. These are little errors that I don't blame Mr. Sherman for, but I wish Berkeley would have done a better job of editing.

I was very impressed with my first Jory Sherman book. The beginning is slow, but it is interesting and well written. The action that makes up the second half is terrific and I was sad to see the book end.

Oh yeah, and I'd like to give some credit to the eye-catching cover. I liked the style and hope the same artist is used on any future books in the series. show less

This is a classic all action revenge Western, not in the old fashioned sanitized Hollywood style, though that is not a complaint, but a blood soaked spaghetti Western style.
The action is full blooded and gut wrenching at times, with gory descriptions of the damage bullets do to a body, and almost non stop. The characterisations are quality, and the hero everything you look for. Well written descriptive and exciting. What more could you ask. I look forward to Gunn's further adventures.

Be show more warned described as an adult Western, firstly for the violence, secondly for several seriously raunchy sex scenes.
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My second Jory Sherman book after the very good Sidewinder (also reviewed here).

The Brand brothers, Jed and Dan are driving cattle for a shady man named Silas Colter. They arrive in Abilene where Colter double crosses them. Before they know what is happening, Colter kills Dan and frames Jed. He is now a fugitive, riding the 'owlhoot trail' (western slang for being on the lam).

The plot synopsis makes it sound like just another western revenge tale, and I guess it is. However, plot threads are show more developed that promise to take the tale in some interesting directions.

Jory knows how to tell a western. The pacing is sure and steady and he sprinkles the narrative with western turns of phrase that give the book a real flavor, without overdoing it. He is very skilled at describing landscape with a painterly eye, creating some really vibid images in my head. He can also write action scenes that are gritty, tense and exciting to read.

On the other hand, he tended not to describe his characters at all, or with only the sketchiest of details (I don't even remember reading what color Jed's hair is). It's odd, because he really does build up a convincing landscape for his story to take place in. I was able to believe in his world as I read and perhaps because of that, I was able to people it with actors from my imagination. But I would have liked to know what Jory imagined his characters looked like.

Abilene gun Down was intended to be the first in a series. Unfortunately, Pocket Star canceled their western line before publishing the promised sequel Journey of Death. Due to this, there were a number of promising plot threads hanging at the end that unfortunately will never be followed up on. This is not at all the author's fault, but regardless Abilene gun Down feels like half of a story.

I enjoyed the book and think the pacing was better than it was in Sidewinder. However, the unresolved plot keeps me from recommending the book, though not from recommending Jory Sherman as an author. Do try him, but start with his John Savage trilogy (Savage Gun, Savage Trail and Savage Curse ) or Sidewinder, which although the first in a series, tells a complete tale. show less