Lately, I’ve developed a strange fascination with autobiographies and biographies, especially those chronicling the lives of pulp-era authors. It’s like my aging mind is reaching back to the frontier of literature, drawn to old stories of grit and creativity. Among those who pique my interest is the Western author Ben Haas, born Benjamin Leopold Haas (1926 - 1977). A prolific writer, he churned out the first sixteen books in the Sundance series, as well as the Fargo and Culter series, under the pen name John Benteen. His 1968 Double D Western, Big Bend, written under Richard Meade, sits proudly on my shelf in hardcover.

Recently, I stumbled upon A Hack's Notebook: An Autobiography by Ben Haas, published as an eBook by Piccadilly Publishing for a mere $1.99. This autobiography was originally released in paperback back in 2020 by Lulu Press. “Wait a minute,” I hear you saying, “Didn’t you mention that Ben Haas passed away in 1977?” Rest assured, you’re not losing your grip on sanity. Tragically, Ben did indeed pass away at the age of 51. However, his family unearthed an unfinished autobiography that contained six chapters. After rummaging through his papers, they couldn’t find the rest of it, leaving us with a patchwork of his life. They decided to publish those fragments alongside Jim Henderson's memoir—Henderson being Ben’s long-time friend—and a scrapbook filled with samples of Ben's artwork, family photographs, and a bibliography. The 2026 edition is lovingly edited by Joel Haas, Ben’s son, who added a nostalgic touch with his personal introduction, Remembering My Father.

When I started reading Rathuun: King of the Prairie by David Fitz-Gerald, I didn't anticipated what I was about to embark upon. Calling it historical fiction seems a bit of a stretch, given that it’s from the perspective of a buffalo named Rathuun. Yes, you read that right: a buffalo. And let me tell you, if you want to grasp the essence of this tale, you’ll need a passport into the peculiar realm of buffalo linguistics. The author himself nudges readers toward a website full of buffalo terms like a guide trying to teach a language on the brink of extinction. Call it a quirk of mine, but I can’t help but feel slightly irked when a book requires a mini-lexicon. Yet, like a stubborn bull, I pressed through my annoyance to see what awaited me across the prairies.

Rathuun isn’t just any buffalo calf; he’s marked by a splash of white on his chin, which somehow makes him feel like a prophet of misfortune from the get-go. Born in a serene canyon, his world plunges into chaos instantly: his twin is murdered by a grizzly bear. The plains are filled with wagons rolling westward in a relentless procession, telegraph wires tattooing the sky, and locomotives roaring like angry beasts across polished steel. All the while, the specter of extinction hangs over Rathuun and his fellow buffalo, as hunters turn the prairie into a veritable slaughterhouse. You’ve got native hunters armed with arrows, herds being driven off cliffs, and an obsessed assassin on a misshapen personal vendetta against the species. You can practically hear the rifles barking, each shot a grim reminder that Rathuun’s days could be numbered. Will he become just another story buried in the dirt of history, left to rot under the relentless sun?

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop!

This Week's Prompt:

Is there a book you keep coming back to, reading it more than once?

My Answer:

It has been a while since I last reread a book, but the ones I have revisited multiple times include: The Shining by Stephen King, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, and Psycho by Robert Bloch. 

Hello, fellow Friday 56ers! 

For this week's Friday 56 pick, hosted by My Head is Full of Books, I am featuring the 2009 Western novel The Loner by J.A. Johnstone. It is the first book in The Loner series and a spinoff of The Last Gunfighter series by William W. Johnstone, who passed away in 2004. William was the sole credited author until the 12th book, after which Fred Austin finished writing Savage Country, the 13th entry. The rest of the series credits J.A. Johnstone as a co-author, with later installments including a Publisher's Note explaining how the family estate selected authors to complete William Johnstone’s unfinished works and create new ones. I’m curious about the niece's involvement in this process. Could someone with more knowledge clarify this for me?

The hero of The Last Gunfighter series is Frank "The Drifter" Morgan, whose name is feared throughout the West due to his deadly gun skills. He has an adult son named Conrad Browning. You might wonder why they have different last names: Conrad's mother remarried, and he took his stepfather's name. Conrad has a complicated relationship with his birth father. Then Frank Morgan reappeared years later, shortly before leaving to avenge Conrad's mother's death. Conrad has inherited an empire from his mother, including railroads and banks. Unlike Frank, he is a businessman and is newly married to the spirited Rebel. This is where the spinoff, The Loner, begins, being the first of fifteen books in the series. 

For generations, traditional barn construction has been the standard choice for homeowners, farmers, and property owners who need additional storage, workspace, or agricultural space. However, first-time barn buyers are increasingly looking at modern alternatives that offer greater flexibility, faster installation, and more predictable planning.

While a custom-built traditional barn can still be the right choice for some projects, many new buyers are discovering that modular barns provide practical advantages without sacrificing appearance or functionality. Understanding the differences between these options can help buyers make a more confident decision before investing in a new structure.

There was a time when the Western novel came roaring back, thanks to a flashy revival that ignited in the late 1970s. Adult Westerns, they called them; your run-of-the-mill tales with a spicy twist of love scenes. Publishers were desperate to breathe life into a fading genre, and for a while, it worked like a charm. Among these was the series Chance, published by Avon Books and penned under the pen name Clay Tanner by the Spur Award-nominated George W. Proctor (1946-2008). Dubbed The Maverick with a Winning Hand, the protagonist, Chance Sharpe, is a slick card shark who owns the riverboat Wild Card. You could easily argue that Proctor borrowed a page or several from the legendary Brett Maverick, but that’s a tale as old as the Wild West itself. Only twelve novels graced this series, published from 1986 to 1988.

Fast forward to my recent thrift store adventure, where I stumbled upon the ninth installment, Chance: Deadly Deal. Maybe it was fate, or perhaps just some cosmic irony, but this book felt oddly familiar. I distinctly remember having owned it in the 1990s, maybe not this exact paperback, but close enough. Back then, I was much too young to be reading Western yarns with sex scenes. I could almost picture my mom snagging it from a garage sale, blissfully unaware of the literary mischief I would engage in. I read everything I could get my hands on, regardless of age appropriateness, thinking I was wise beyond my years. Who knows what ever happened to that first copy? Perhaps it found its way to another garage sale. But I digress. There it sat amid the dust and knickknacks: Deadly Deal. The cover was a siren song, pulling me back into nostalgia, and I couldn't resist the urge to scoop it up.

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop!

This Week's Prompt:

Do you see yourself more as an editor, a writer, or just a reader?

My Answer:

As a book blogger, you are already a reader. You become a writer without realizing it, and you must learn to be your own editor, even if sometimes you don’t enjoy it.

Hello, fellow Friday 56ers! 

For this week's Friday 56 pick, hosted by My Head is Full of Books, I am featuring the thriller Backtrack by Marc Cameron. It's the eighth book in the Arliss Cutter series.

Now, here’s a preview from page 56:

Cutter stifled a grin. "I told you she was a monster—"

— Cameron, Marc. Backtrack, Kensington, 2026, p. 56.

This book marks the first time I've read an installment in the Arliss Cutter series, even though I believe I own a couple of books from the series that I picked up as paperbacks at a dollar store or thrift shop. I have read a few of the Tom Clancy novels that Marc Cameron has contributed to, and I've been eager to explore his solo works. So, I'm excited to read Backtrack over the weekend, with my review planned for August 17. 

Martial arts legend and beloved cinematic icon Jackie Chan (Rush Hour and Police Story franchises) embarks on a family-friendly adventure in the action-comedy sequel, Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe (NOT RATED; 100 minutes). It's landing on digital, Blu-ray™, and DVD on August 11 from Well Go USA Entertainment. 

Picking up after the events of 2024’s Panda Plan, where Chan plays a fictionalized version of himself who takes on a horde of bad guys threatening a zoo, the sequel takes a more whimsical turn. Directed by Derek Hui (This is Not What I Expected) and written by Keyang Pan, the film introduces a primal twist when Jackie and his panda, Hu Hu, unwittingly stumble into a remote tribe. This quirky tribe, believing Hu Hu is a sacred spirit linked to their ancestral totem, imposes a series of hilariously strict customs upon him. With Hu Hu suddenly designated as the key to solving a long-standing crisis, Jackie finds himself tapping into a blend of wit and skill to navigate this wild new world.

Released in China back in February 2026, the film reeled in about $37.7 million in US dollars. While Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe isn’t without its flaws, it offers a more family-centric tone than its predecessor, leaning heavily into slapstick humor that seems engineered to tickle the funny bones of younger audiences, though adults might just roll their eyes.

Key Takeaways 

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Understanding Dental Implants

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Hitting the bookshelves today from Grand Central Publishing is the thriller You'll Be Sorry, written by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner. Fun fact: Gardner kicked off her career in the food service industry, but after singeing her hair a few too many times, she wisely pivoted to writing. Now a self-proclaimed research junkie, she has channeled her fascination with police procedures and the criminal psyche into a string of internationally acclaimed novels that have captivated readers in over 30 countries. Her novel The Neighbor even won the Best Hardcover Novel award from the International Thriller Writers.

You'll Be Sorry is set in the eerie charms of Shereford, New Hampshire, and follows Raquel and Theo Collins. Here we have Raquel, a renowned interior designer, and Theo, a brash financial hotshot, whose romance took a tragic turn. To escape their grief, they retreat to a remote town, hoping for a fresh start among the ghosts of the past.

Their new home? The Dixons’ family lodge, once the crown jewel of the mountains, now a shadow of its former self. Three decades ago, on a fateful August night, the entire Dixon family—two parents and their four kids—vanished, leaving only a trail of bloody footprints and a mystery shrouded in whispers and speculation. As the Collinses settle into their new digs, the long-forgotten echoes of the past resurface, mingling with the new inhabitants of the creaking old lodge.

For Amanda Grady, Shereford’s newly minted police chief and daughter of the officer who helmed the Dixon case, it's a bittersweet experience. Reviving the long-abandoned lodge might signal hope for the town, but not everyone is thrilled about the Collinses moving in. As she grapples with her father’s legacy, it becomes clear that some secrets refuse to stay buried.

It's astonishing to realize that the Adult Western series The Gunsmith has reached the ripe old age of forty-four, a year younger than I am; yes, the passage of time is a cruel companion, and I'm feeling every tick of the clock as I write this. It's the creation of J.R. Roberts, the pseudonym for the late Robert J. Randisi (1951-2024); this series stands as the last bastion of Adult Westerns from the 1980s. Following Randisi’s passing in 2024, his stepson, Marcus Pelegrimas, has stepped up to the plate, spinning new tales inspired by a query Randisi submitted before his untimely death. If the name Marcus Galloway rings a bell, it’s likely due to his work on the Snake Oil series, the Man From Boot Hill series, and several titles in the Ralph Compton books, solidifying his status among Western aficionados.

This brings us to my review of The Gunsmith: Tent City, the 496th installment, released in June 2026 by Speaking Volumes, LLC. While I could call it the latest addition, that wouldn’t exactly be truthful since the 497th title, Skinwalker, has just hit the shelves. I’ll have my thoughts on that one once I manage to snag a copy.

So, here’s the heart of the matter: our protagonist, ex-lawman Clint Adams, or as he’s known, The Gunsmith, is wrapping up a brief stint as a poker tournament enforcer in Leadville, Colorado. His journey to, well, who knows where, is abruptly thrown off course by the frantic appearance of a redhead named Mandy, a widowed damsel fresh off a narrow escape from four male kidnappers. Clint, ever the gallant knight willing to brave the wild west for a pretty face, can't turn a blind eye to her distress... but he could never predict the dangers he's about to be swept into.