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Claw
May 16, 2012 7:56:36 GMT
Post by valdemar on May 16, 2012 7:56:36 GMT
Many years ago, I read a tremendously odd and violent western, with the violence up to 'Django' levels, about a gunfighter called simply, 'Claw'. This name was due to him having a prosthetic, razor-sharp claw instead of one of his hands. The violence was lovingly and gruesomely described, of the ''...flesh parting bloodily to reveal the whitish bone beneath...'' sort of thing. I know the subject is 'Brit Westerns', but I have no idea who the author was, or indeed his nationality. I do know though, that the book, although vicious and pulpy, existed. Was it part of a series? I remember it being nasty enough to be more horror than horse-opera. Any one of you lovely people out there ever come across this dirty little gem? ;D
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Claw
May 16, 2012 8:50:13 GMT
Post by Craig Herbertson on May 16, 2012 8:50:13 GMT
Many years ago, I read a tremendously odd and violent western, with the violence up to 'Django' levels, about a gunfighter called simply, 'Claw'. This name was due to him having a prosthetic, razor-sharp claw instead of one of his hands. The violence was lovingly and gruesomely described, of the ''...flesh parting bloodily to reveal the whitish bone beneath...'' sort of thing. I know the subject is 'Brit Westerns', but I have no idea who the author was, or indeed his nationality. I do know though, that the book, although vicious and pulpy, existed. Was it part of a series? I remember it being nasty enough to be more horror than horse-opera. Any one of you lovely people out there ever come across this dirty little gem? ;D this might help: westernfictionreview.blogspot.de/2009/08/claw-1.html
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Claw
May 16, 2012 11:05:54 GMT
Post by andydecker on May 16, 2012 11:05:54 GMT
All are written by Angus Wells.
Here are the blurbs.
1. Day Of Fury Blacksmith Tyler Wyatt was not a man to go looking for trouble, byt trouble found him the day Vance Jennings and his gang hit town. They took away his wife, his home...and his left hand. They gave him in return a searing lust for death and revenge that nothing-no matter how bloody-could ever satisfy.
2. Vengeance Road There were two loves in Tyler Wyatt's life. One had been his wife. The other would be his bloody revenge on the gang who had murdered her and cut off his hand...the men who made him CLAW. In Vengeance Road, the man with the metal hand tracks his prey to the silver town of Villalta. And when they move in on a big shipment from the mine, he moves in on them.
3. The Wild Hunt Tyler Wyatt is a man possessed with a dream-a savage, brutal dream of revenge on the men who turned his hand to a CLAW. So when he hears that Vance Jennings could be amoung a group of hostages taken by the Apaches, Tyler rides in. He dosen't want any harm to come to Jennings, because he wants to kill him all by himself...and savour the day his dream comes true.
4. Yellow Stripe An eternal reminder of the barbaric act of violence which took from Tyler Wyatt his wife and his left hand is the vicious weapon that makes him known as CLAW. And though his quest for revenge is over, his blood lust lives on... In Yellow Stripe Wyatt gets a choice-between trouble and more trouble. These days, that's the kind of choice he likes to make.
5. Blood On Blood When Tyler Wyatt tracked down the men who hand made his hand a CLAW he was prepared to sacrifice anything-or anyone-to his lust for bloody revenge. Now the quest is over, but the price remains to be paid. In blood for blood, Wyatt makes a deal which puts him back in danger-which means he's back in business. Savage, fast, violent business. The only kind he knows.
6. Death In Red Blacksmith Tyler Wyatt was a man of peace. But a murderous moment of violence took away his wife, his future...and his left hand. On his own anvil Wyatt made his metal CLAW and turned himself into a one-man killing machine. In Death In Red, Tyler joins a stagecoach crew to flush out a traitor in their midst, and once more finds himself on the bloody road to retribution...
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Claw
May 17, 2012 7:10:47 GMT
Post by valdemar on May 17, 2012 7:10:47 GMT
Yup, that's the one. Thanks.
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Claw
Mar 31, 2019 11:34:57 GMT
Post by ripper on Mar 31, 2019 11:34:57 GMT
I only have volume 3 in this series, The Wild Hunt. I thought it was okay, but it didn't really inspire me to seek out any more. Interestingly, there was a US series with a similar premise called Klaw. Like Claw, it didn't last that long as far as I am aware.
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Claw
Mar 31, 2019 19:29:57 GMT
Post by andydecker on Mar 31, 2019 19:29:57 GMT
I only have volume 3 in this series, The Wild Hunt. I thought it was okay, but it didn't really inspire me to seek out any more. Interestingly, there was a US series with a similar premise called Klaw. Like Claw, it didn't last that long as far as I am aware. Claw was Wells going through the motions. He had 10 western published in 1983, the next year all of the series were cancelled and only Terry Harknett soldiered on until 1989.
I think I have 3 Claws, which I personally think never reached the readability of Breed or Cade, the other series Wells wrote alone. 1984 can't have been a good year for James, Harvey and Wells who suddenly were out of work. Wells published his next novel under his name in 1988, the first of his few fantasy novels. I don't know what he did in those 4 years.
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Claw
Apr 1, 2019 14:14:39 GMT
Post by ripper on Apr 1, 2019 14:14:39 GMT
I only have volume 3 in this series, The Wild Hunt. I thought it was okay, but it didn't really inspire me to seek out any more. Interestingly, there was a US series with a similar premise called Klaw. Like Claw, it didn't last that long as far as I am aware. Claw was Wells going through the motions. He had 10 western published in 1983, the next year all of the series were cancelled and only Terry Harknett soldiered on until 1989. I think I have 3 Claws, which I personally think never reached the readability of Breed or Cade, the other series Wells wrote alone. 1984 can't have been a good year for James, Harvey and Wells who suddenly were out of work. Wells published his next novel under his name in 1988, the first of his few fantasy novels. I don't know what he did in those 4 years.
I have most of the Breed series, but only a single Cade, and I should really get a few more to get the feel of the series. I don't know why most of the series westerns came to an end after being so popular for a decade or so, but I suppose it would be something to do with sales. Western films had been on a downward spiral since the mid-70s and were comparitively rare by the 80s, so perhaps the series westerns were just on the same popularity path.
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Claw
Apr 1, 2019 21:07:40 GMT
Post by andydecker on Apr 1, 2019 21:07:40 GMT
I guess the market caved in. In 1979 the PC Cowboys published 32 novels one the whole, the next year it was 33. I wonder if back then there were collectors who bought and read each and every one. That the western movie was already out of favour surely didn't help.
Cade is one of the three series I collected when they were published. Even if the series plot was truly simple - a doctor is hunting the killer of his wife through the west - Wells' wrote some nice ones, and for me it is the series with the best covers next to The Gringos. (Not counting Masero).
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Claw
Apr 3, 2019 8:40:51 GMT
Post by ripper on Apr 3, 2019 8:40:51 GMT
I guess the market caved in. In 1979 the PC Cowboys published 32 novels one the whole, the next year it was 33. I wonder if back then there were collectors who bought and read each and every one. That the western movie was already out of favour surely didn't help.
Cade is one of the three series I collected when they were published. Even if the series plot was truly simple - a doctor is hunting the killer of his wife through the west - Wells' wrote some nice ones, and for me it is the series with the best covers next to The Gringos. (Not counting Masero).
At the time I didn't collect any of the PC western series. I remember seeing them in the one bookshop in my town, but my attention was invariably drawn to the horror paperbacks. The only PC western I read at the time of its original publication was the first volume of Herne the Hunter, and only because it was loaned from the library by my grandmother (a big western fan) and was in hardback. 20+ years later I remembered that book and with a bit of internet research found the PC westerns. I ordered a copy of many series and began collecting semi-regularly the series I liked such as Herne, Hawk and Breed.
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