One of my criticism of Westerns over the years is that they often lacked a sense of humor. Three decades ago, Bantam Books invited me to change that. Thus was born the comic western series The Memories of H.H. Lomax, which appeared in three books with Bantam. After retirement, I secured the rights to the series and added five more volumes to the fictional memoirs.
Wolfpack, my current publisher, is now bringing out the entire collection in two different Kindle editions, starting with a Volume 1 new edition of Bluster’s Last Stand, my favorite title ever. Although Wolfpack published the first four books in a collection a few years ago, they are bringing out a new cover to coordinate with Volume 2 which will be out in a few weeks.
I think the Wolfpack cover designers captured the essence of Lomax, showing him with a mule, rather than the typical Western steed. Let’s just say Lomax is not your typical Western hero, getting by less on grit than on wit.
Bluster’s Last Stand is protagonist Lomax’s take on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Here’s just a sample of his assessment of the ill-fated general: “I didn’t care for Custer, general or colonel or lieutenant or whatever his rank was. Fact was, I called him ‘General Bluster’ because there weren’t enough mirrors in the world to adequately reflect his opinion of himself. And my low opinion of the man did little to narrow the waistline of his bulging vanity.”
The other books in Volume 1 are The Demise of Billy the Kid, The Redemption of Jesse James, and Mix-Up at the O.K. Corral. All are grounded in solid historical research and offer a different perspective on some of the most popular characters and events of the Old West.
The Volume 1 Kindle edition is available on Amazon for $2.99. Check it out if you want an economical dose of Western history written with a sly grin. It’s available at https://www.amazon.com/Blusters-Last-Stand-Complete-Tales-ebook/dp/B082T117PP/
