I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death ( Sono Sartana, Il Vostro Becchino) (1969)

Sometimes known as SARTANA THE GRAVEDIGGER, this film, second in the series, has Gianni Garko, billed as John Garko for the American release, finds our hero framed for the bank robbery of an impenetrable bank. Bounty hunters were hired as guards and one dressed in the distinctive style of the most famous bounty hunter of them all engineers the theft, leaving him holding the bag.

A reward is put on Sartana’s head.

Bounty hunters Hot Dead(Klaus Kinski) and Deguejo(Gordon Mitchell) take up the hunt.

Soon the real Sartana, alarmed at what’s going on, starts looking into it. He has an assistant, Buddy Ben(spaghetti vet Frank Wolff), that serves as his Watson in this detective tale. The trail leads the pair to Poker Flats where the game is wide open and crime running wild.

Sartana is less spectral here, more of a straight forward western character. The directing reins were taken over by Giuliano Carnimeo(billed as Anthony Ascott) after some fall out between the first film’s director, Gianfranco Parolini, and some of the production people. Fans were divided on the turn of the series with this film and it’s moody, episodic framing. It retained the violence and atmosphere of the first, but giving it a burlesque air in the Las Vegas style Poker Flats.

I liked it.

Devils And Dust – J. D. Rhoades

Tags

J. D. Rhoades, Jack Keller, thriller

Not an old book but bounty hunter Jack Keller is back after a long absence, the first new book since 2007, and a welcome return it is. DEVILS AND DUST finds Keller living off the grid after the events of the third novel, a quiet life in the desert, a new lady in his life, and no bounty hunting. Still with demons haunting his sleep.

But he’s been found.

His old boss and friend Angela has tracked him down looking for help. Her husband, Oscar Sanchez, and Keller’s best friend, has disappeared. He was looking into his two son’s disappearance on their way up from Mexico.

Keller is a hunter and Angela is confident he can find Oscar and the boys. Keller owes him and immediately agrees. Oscar, a simple teacher, had once saved Keller’s life at considerable risk to his own.

The trail will take him from a corrupt Mexican border town to a prison camp in the swamps of South Carolina, placing him against the worst in humankind, human traffickers, drug lords, and slavers, those that use religion to justify their excesses.

Terrific new novel by Mr. Rhoades in that genre defined by some as redneck noir.

If You Meet Sartana, Pray For Your Death(Se Incontri Sartana Prega Per La Tua Morte)1968

Tags

Fernando Sancho, Gianni Garko, Klaus Kinski, spaghetti western, William Berger

IF YOU MEET SARTANA PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH was the first of five official films to feature the character. there were a number of films that featured the fellow that were mere ripoffs riding the coattails of the franchise. Gianni Garko played him in four of the spaghetti westerns and George Hilton essayed the role in the third entry.

This opening film is loaded with veterans of the genre in Klaus Kinski(Morgan), Fernando Sancho(Jose Manuel Mendoza), and William Berger(Lasky) being the main ones. A few other sprinkled through in minor roles.

The plot involves an insurance swindle perpetrated by those folks in charge, a bank director, rich men, hiring a Mexican gang, Mendoza’s, to steal a strong-box, and an American gang, led by Lasky, to kill the Mexicans. A mysterious stranger, Sartana, steps into the middle of this fight, revolving around rival gangs, the town’s bigwigs and the search for the missing loot. The usual sorts of double crosses follow, Sartana making sure he comes out on top.

The name “Sartana” first appeared in the film Blood at Sundown (Mille dollari sul nero, 1967), in which Garko played an antagonist called El General Sartana, completely unrelated to the later film series. But it was noticed, the film’s success in Germany, known by the short title Sartana. Italian producer Aldo Addobbati noticed that and set up a production deal with a German producer in Italy. Garko was signed with a clause giving him script approval.

One of the best of the spaghetti genre.

FFB: Blind Justice At Wedlock – Ross Morton

Tags

Forgotten Books, Nik Morton

BLIND JUSTICE AT WEDLOCK is not an old book, a Black Horse Western from 2011. Ross Morton is of course author Nik Morton.

Clint Brennan was shot and left for dead, along with his dog Mutt, the last thing he saw were the two men dragging his wife Belle from their home. It was a third person that shot him.

Clint was blind when he came to, one shot having hit him in the head.

A little thing like blindness wasn’t going to stop him from saving Belle though. Mutt wasn’t badly wounded either and after a bit of bandaging, feeling around for supplies and one of Belle’s nightgowns, the pair leaves with Mutt trailing the scent.

Meanwhile, Belle gets rescued by a gentleman and taken to his home in a nearby town, he promising to help her get back to Bethesda Falls to see to her husband’s body. But there was always a reason why it couldn’t be done immediately.

A believably done story of a determined blind man to find and rescue his wife. And find out what was going on.

Really enjoyed this one.

New In The House

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1; Woman In The Dark – Dashiell Hammett: A young, frightened, foreign woman appears at the door of an isolated house. The man and woman inside take her in. Other strangers appear in pursuit of the girl. Menace is in the air. Originally published in 1933, Hammett’s Woman in the Dark shows the author at the peak of his narrative powers. With an introduction by Robert B. Parker, the author of the celebrated Spenser novels.

2: Scarlet Riders – Don Hutchinson: Richard posted on this collection recently and piqued my interest.

3: Tau Ceti – Kevin J. Anderson & Steven Saville: I recently posted on RED TIDE, the most recent book in the STELLAR GUILD SERIES. This book was the first. I hope to get all of them before I’m through.

and the ebooks:

4: The Bedroom Bolero – Michael Avallone

5: The Living Bomb – Michael Avallone: two entries in Avallone’s Ed Noon P.I. series now being released to ebooks.

6: Renegade – Lou Cameron: first in the author’s adult western series(originally published under the name Ramsay Thorne. If I like this one, got a lot of catching up to do(36 titles), though only three have made it to ebook so far. Charles Gramlich turned me on to these.

Red Venus – Garnett Elliott

RED VENUS was a fun read, almost as if a child of Burroughs and Bova with it’s mix of a Venus inhabited by various monster-like creatures and a modern clash between Americans and Communist Russians.

What makes it interesting is the story told from the viewpoint of Russian Captain Nadezhda Gura of the space ship Krasnyy Sokol. A sympathetic character amid a host of people, on both sides, with a horrific agenda. Truly the Cold War transfered to another planet.

Highly recommended. Available HERE.

FFB: Token of Remorse – Michael Stone

This time out bounty hunter Streeter takes a job for Marty Moats, the Waterbed King of Colorado. His nephew, Richie Moats, is presumed dead, his car found in Mexico with blood in the driver’s seat. We already know Richie and his girl friend Tina had ripped off her boss, a low level crime figure, of several hundred thousand in cash. The plan had been to disappear after setting things up to appear dead.

Old Marty didn’t care much for his nephew, but his wife doted on him. He wanted to keep her happy and he wanted to know if the boy was actually dead.

Things get complicated when Streeter goes to Mexico and starts to believe things are not on the up and up. Plus an old enemy of Streeter’s, Grover Royals, going all the way back to their high school days and the school football team steps into the picture. Streeter had been intimidated back then and still was a bit. He was the man behind the man ripped off by the young folks. Also taken was some blackmail files the crime boss wanted back.

And one more complication. Royals was supposed to have a silent partner.

A nice well written thriller just released in this new edition by BRASH BOOKS. The original cover is the one on the right.

Today’s Humor: British SF Style

Today’s Humor: Grumpy Cat Edition

2014 in review

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Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 39,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

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