Undercover Gun (Clay Nash #1)

Author: Brett Waring
First Published:  2016 (?)
Pages: 105

"Clay Nash and his neighbor Cash Matthews were never going to be friends.

Matthews was a big, powerful rancher who always wanted more. Clay was just a homesteader, content with his lot. But when Matthews went after Clay's land—and fenced off the water Clay's cattle needed in order to survive—Clay had no choice but to declare war. It was a foolish gesture that could only end one way, and it did—with Matthews sentencing Clay to a long, lingering death on the high desert. But somehow Clay survived, and when he came back for revenge, he was a new man, a harder man, a man who showed no mercy to his enemies.

Clay Nash was Wells Fargo's secret weapon … an undercover gun."

I enjoyed The Red Hills (Crow #1), so much that I decided to try another new (for me at least) Western series from Piccadilly Publishing. At £0.99, it's hardly going to break the bank if I don't like it, I thought. I'm happy to report it wasn't a waste of my hard earned cash. Undercover Gun, number 1 in the Clay Nash series was enjoyable and a nice departure from Crow. This series is written by Brett Waring, aka Keith Hetherington, who has also written Banner the Enforcer as Kirk Hamilton. Knowing this before I made my purchase provided that extra bit of confidence that I was in for a good yarn.

This first novel sets the scene for all the novels that follow. There are 25 in the series and at the time of writing Piccadilly have published up to number 15. So don't expect any undercover gunning from Clay Nash till the final act of this opener. As you can read from the blurb, Clay is a small time rancher who just happens to living next to a much more powerful and notorious rancher in the form of Cash Matthews. Clay comes to the attention of Matthews after he dispatches a couple of his henchmen, who were looking to impart a bit of punishment on Clay for using the river on Matthews land to water his herd.

Eventually Matthews captures Clay and decides to teach him and all the other ranchers around his growing empire a lesson, by releasing Clay out into the searingly hot desert with a few hours head start before Cash and his cronies come looking for him. They expect it to be a dead cert that Clay will not get far, or last very long in the wilderness. Their a bit of sport does not go exactly their way though, as Clay has spent some time among the native Indians and has some skills of his own.

What follows is a very competent and entertaining western following the desperate attempts of Matthews to hunt down Clay Nash, and Nash's ingenuity in foiling his neighbor. The story follows a lean plot that hardly ever lacks pace and kept me engaged throughout. The violence is not as graphic as that in the Crow novel I read before this, but it is still satisfyingly detailed; Nash is a mean shot and the action scenes are really well written.

There were no sex scenes in this opening story, I'm not aware if that changes over time, but there is what could be the start of a burgeoning romance. So, if you are not in the mood for a grisly or ultra-violent western, then this might scratch you itch. Recommended.

I'm led to believe that these stories have been published previously, however I could not find any covers for old paperbacks, so the cover above is the very good cover form Piccadilly, which apparently uses the original cover? I'd love to see a picture of the originals if anyone can point hem out somewhere on the Net?