The Western novels of I J Parnham

Ian Parnham, known by the pen name of I.J. Parnham, is a writer from Nottingham, England who is known for his literary works in the Western world of gunslingers and cowboys. He has written five novels for the Avalon Western series and a total of 18 novels for the Black Horse Western series. The cowboys in his works are known to consume lots of porridge, be adept at caber-tossing, a traditional Scottish athletic event that involves the tossing of large wooden poles, and frequently shout out the word "Freedom".

The newest title, "Sharpshooter McClure", reached number two on Amazon's Best Seller list in the Western Fiction category at the beginning of April 2010. It is a story of deputy sheriff Mike McClure who, after only being on the job for one week, is enlisted by a US Marshal to go undercover to stop the hired guns who are harassing the town of Harmony.

Other recent titles include "The Treasure Of Saint Woody" and an exciting Western tale known as "Riders Of The Barren Plains". Cowboy Jeff Steed is the main character in this novel in which he arrives in town innocently looking for work and then goes to the bank only to get caught up in the middle of a bank robbery that somehow ends up with both the Sheriff and bank robber trying to hunt him down.

More fascinating I.J. Parnham stories include "Massacre At Bluff Point", "Railroad To Redemption", and the intriguing tale of "Calloway's Crossing". In this unique adventure the main character, known as Trip Kincaid, was given a saloon at Calloway's Crossing by the man whose life he had saved. Unfortunately, the saloon was actually nothing more than a pool of mud, but not to be deterred Kincaid built the saloon himself. He was soon visited by the local protection gang and would have to enlist the help of an unknown gunslinger in order beat them. Of course, the gunslinger would want something in return, which would leave Kincaid fighting for his life, as well as the well being of his beloved barmaid.

You can pretty much tell by the names of Parnham's novels that his stories embody the good guy versus bad guy motif with some kind of twist thrown in along the way. This is evidenced by taking a look at other titles penned by this author such as "Bad Moon Over Devil's Ridge", "The Gallows Gang", and "The Legend Of Shamus McGinty's Gold". The basics of the Shamus McGinty tale is a posse of unruly gunslingers who are told if they can find a remedy to cure a dying Morgan Armstrong, he will give them the location of McGinty's gold. This may be one of Parham's best works, as it has been touted as those who have read it to be an excellent story to read even for those who don't particularly enjoy the Western fiction genre.

More I.J. Parnham novels include "The Finest Frontier Town In The West", "Miss Dempsey's School For Gunslingers", "Devine's Law", "The Ten Percent Gang", and "Calhoun's Bounty". Bounty is a story with an interesting twist, as in this tale a bounty hunter named Denver Calhoun, who makes his living hunting down others, now becomes the hunted due to circumstances brought on by a group known as the Flynn Gang.

While it would be impossible to get through all of his novels in one article, you can see why Parnham has made a name for himself in the world of Western fiction literature. With stories that are both intriguing and exciting, many fans must be sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for his next electrifying novel to be released.

Written by, and copyright of, John Vasey