“Death Waits at Sundown” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Death Waits at Sundown”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
approx. 2 hours

Holy cow, another month has gone by and it’s time for the next release of Stories from the Golden Age. Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio have been republishing the pulp-fiction works of L. Ron Hubbard into two awesome formats. In the paperback releases you get that old timey pulp fiction magazine feel with the awesome graphics on the cover and pics on the inside. In the Audiobook format they stick with that old timey feel in that the stories are fully produced with a full cast of actors, sound effects, and music that fits every story. This time around they have taken back to the days where the trails were dusty and the cattle were rustled. Which reminds me of a joke…but I’ll wait until the end of the review to tell you.

Every time I listen to one of these books I’m always amazed at the supreme voice talent and production that goes into each of the stories. You gotta realize that back in the day when writing for the pulps L. Ron Hubbard created over the top characters and to get readers that was a must. In these audio productions this over the top aspect of the characters is carried through with the excellent voice work. Each character in the story has a significant part to play and the voice actors all portray every aspect of the character through their excellent acting. The voices are superb.

I have mentioned him in the past, but I want to talk more about Jim Meskimen. He has performed and directed in many of the stories in these audiobooks and even narrated and a few. Jim Meskimen is a talent that is out of this world, maybe even not of this Earth. He is well known for his impersonations that are nothing shy of astounding (check out his viral youtube video http://youtu.be/j8PGBnNmPgk ). This time around the cast not only includes Jim but also Tamra and Taylor Meskimen. I’m pretty sure I’m right in saying that Tamra is his wife and Taylor is the result of these two outstanding talents passing their extremely talented genes to their offspring. So with this cast, which also includes Fred Tatasciore, R.F. Daley, Shannon Evans, Taron Lexton, Phil Proctor and Michael Yurchak, you are getting some excellent vocal talent that can create a full theatre of the mind experience that these classic stories deserve.

This audiobook consists of the following three stories:

“Death Waits at Sundown” originally printed in the October, 1938 issue of “Western Story” magazine tells of Lynn Taylor, a hard-riding, two-fisted Texan who plans depriving the town of Pioneer of its necktie party because just wants to substitute another victim, the real criminal. Taylor’s kid brother, Lee, gets framed for stage robbery, cattle rustling (that joke is coming) and murder, the boy swears his innocence and instead accuses McCloud, head of the vigilante committee responsible for removing the town’s former sheriff. with the help of the former sheriff, Lynn sets up a trap for McCloud.

“Ride ’Em, Cowboy!” originally published in the July, 1938 issue of “Western Story” magazine is a great cowboy competition story between a Cowboy and a Cowgirl. When a champion bronco-buster and the girl he wants to marry, but constantly quarrels with, compete for the same prize at a rodeo, the results are unexpectedly romantic, but still with some good ol’ cowboy action involved.

“Boss of the Lazy B,” originally published in the September, 1938 issue of “Western Story” magazine shows that there’s only one kind of justice for a kidnapper and a thief and the boss of the Lazy B dispenses it with authority. I gotta say that the voice of the Boss is the coolest in this collection, you’ll see when you listen.

So, do yourself a favor and punch some dogies or just get this super awesome audiobook.

Okay now for that joke:

An Arizona cowpoke rides into a small Texas town and notices a gallows being set up in the middle of town. When he walks into the town saloon he says to the bar-keep, “Looks like you folks is gettin’ set for a hangin’.” The bar-keep says, “yep, they’s ahangin’ Brown Paper Pete.” “Brown Paper Pete?” asks the cowpoke, “Why do they call him that?” “Well,” explains the bar-keep, ” He wears brown paper chaps, a brown paper vest, and wears a brown paper 10 gallon hat.” The cowpoke asks, “What are they hangin’ him for?” The bar-keep answers, “Rustlin’.”

“Trouble on His Wings” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Trouble on His Wings”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours

I’m really enjoying all theses stories from the Golden Age, that are being released from Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press, especially the short audiobooks they are releasing.  Galaxy Audio has been releasing all the short stories by L. Ron Hubbard from his Pulp-Fiction writing days of the mid-20th century since 2008 and each month there’s a new release.  In the paperback versions they are giving them the look and feel of the old pulp magazines, but even better Galaxy Audio has created what I call Audio Pulps in their audio versions.

The Audiobooks all run about 2 hours in length some with 1 story and some with 2 or 3 short stories.  Each one is produced with a full cast, sound effects and incidental music that fits each story perfectly.  In fact, these audiobooks sound a lot like the old radio dramas from that same era.  The voice actors bring to life each character perfectly.

The new year is rolling in and that means another year of monthly releases from Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press.  The first release of the year is “Trouble on His Wings,” which was originally published in the January, 1939 issue of “Five Novels Monthly.”

This adventure takes us to the air with a “picture-chaser” for the newsreels, yes, it is a bit dated on that aspect but the adventure is still enough to keep you on the edge.  Johnny Brice is always out to get the best pictures from the mouth of danger, from flying over a shipwreck and then diving in to get the film from the tourists onboard, to flying over a forest-fire and risking life and plane to get the best film for the newsreels.

The risks in this story run high and when Johnny and his sidekick, “Irish” fly over a shipwreck they end up rescuing a beautiful woman who manages to tag along on each adventure.  Each time around tragedy strikes and Johnny loses his film and crashes a plane or two.  He figures it’s all because of the dame and gives her the nickname “Jinx.”

Finally when Johnny is sent over to cover the war between Japan and China and is captured by the Japanese, the trio have to escape, and hopefully gather some info so Johnny and Irish can keep their jobs at world news.

Lots of fun high-flying, death-defying, adventure in this one.  Using the same old pulp-fiction formula of a Hero, a sidekick and a dame, Hubbard keeps you on listening until the very end.  With all sorts of twists and turns in the story that you never know what will happen until the surprising end.

“Spy Killer” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Spy Killer”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours

Once again I dive into a Story from the Golden Age, with another pulp fiction classic from the master Storyteller, L. Ron Hubbard.  This time we go on another adventure with at tale from the Orient.

Each one of these stories by Hubbard from the Mid-20th century launch me into a new adventure.  Galaxy Audio makes these stories transition to audio books in a phenomenal way.  Each one of these books is transformed into an audio drama that closely resembles an old fashioned radio drama.  With great music, perfect sound effects and vocal acting that not only blows away the listener but makes the over the top characters created by Hubbard come to life.

Originally published in the April 1936 issue of “Five Novels Monthly,”  “Spy Killer” is one of the most violent and darker stories from this era of Hubbard’s book.   Kurt Reid has just escaped from the S.S. Rangoon and is on the run from those that want to charge him with murder.  He flees to pre-Communist Shanghai, China and finds himself hunted by the most vile of persons, Lin Wang.  Wang, a vile disgusting figure, wants Reid to kill a spy, in return he will give Wang a written confession to the murder Reid is being charged with.  The confession is from another member of the crew of the Rangoon who Reid watched Wang torture the confession from.

Reid finds a woman from his past, Anne Carsten, is friends with a White Russian Spy, Varinka Savischna and both are in Shanghai.  Reid seeks out the spy he is ordered to kill and it turns out to be Varinka.  They then both conspire to kill Wang and try to escape with their lives.

In a story that is non-stop twists and turns, and secret identities as well as identity changes, Hubbard keeps you wondering what will happen next in this constant thriller.

“Under the Diehard Brand” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Under the Diehard Brand”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; I never thought I’d enjoy reading a Western novel or story.  In the past these just never interested me, actually I’m still not all that interested in just any old Western story.  A friend once tried to get me to read some Louis L’Amour, but I just couldn’t get past 10 pages without becoming utterly bored.  But here I am reading yet another Western story from L. Ron Hubbard.

I think, no wait, I know  what it is that keeps me interested.  It’s the great production that goes into these Stories from the Golden Age produced by Galaxy Audio.  The sound effects are perfect and keep you trapped in the story.  The incidental music, between chapters and stories, just screams the “old west.” But most important are the actors.  The characters in the stories by L. Ron Hubbard are always super real and over the top and the characterizations provided by the voice actors in these productions represent them perfectly.  Whether it’s an outlaw named Holy George who speaks as though from a pulpit or a cantankerous gold prospector left alone in a ghost town, the actors let you know every aspect of the characters in these stories by superb acting and vocal expertise.

Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press have been releasing the short stories from the master storyteller, L. Ron Hubbard for a few years now and continue to do so.  These releases are from the mid-20th century writings which were originally published in the “pulp” magazines of the time.  These works of “pulp-fiction” proved some great escapism fiction for the American readers and the pulps represented almost every genre of fiction.  Hubbard wrote stories for nearly every genre and this time around I jumped into another collection of Western stories from the Stories from the Golden Age.  Each release from Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press are issued to closely resemble the pulps of the time.  This release contains the following three stories.

“Under the Diehard Brand” was originally published March, 1938  in “Western Aces” magazine and tells the tale of the Lee Thompson, son of the sheriff of Wolf River, coming back to his father after being away to help his father.  When he arrives in town his father, Sheriff “Diehard” Thompson, doesn’t recognize him and tells the young boy to keep on drifting or get a job.  The  son finds his father has gotten older and some local ruffians and cattle rustlers have over run the town of Wolf River.  Lee then comes up with a plan to build back up his father’s reputation and rid the town of the criminal element by joining up with the rustlers.

“Hoss Tamer” was originally published January, 1950 in “Thrilling Western” magazine.
An ex-circus horse trainer finds himself out of a job when the circus folds and sells off all its property in a foreclosure.   The trainer tries to find a job as a bronc buster, after all he could “train” horses.   But he gets injured and maimed the first time he tries and is forced to work for the town’s livery stable.   The Gopher Hole gang, the band responsible for his bronc busting disaster attempts to rob the Wells Fargo Train , can a circus horse trainer foil the Gopher Hole Gang’s attempt to rob the Wells Fargo train through their horses?

“The Ghost Town Gun-Ghost” originally published August, 1938, in “Western Action” magazine is a humorous story of an old prospector that seems to have lost his wits after being abandoned in a town when the gold ran out.  A young fellow arrives in town and is shown about the town by the prospector who acts out the role of everyone in town from the mayor, to sheriff down to the the man running the Wells Fargo.  When a few unsavory characters arrive in town it seems the prospector and young man may meet their end in a battle over stolen money hidden in town.

 

“Wind Gone Mad” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Wind Gone Mad”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 Hours

Whether you have ever listened to an audiobook or not, just once (that’s all it will take then your hooked) grab one of these productions from Galaxy Audio.  These “Stories from the Golden Age” are great stories in and of themselves, but the magic Galaxy Audio puts into the production of these adventure stories makes them superb audio dramas

I don’t think I’m too far off base when I say that Galaxy Audio produces these stories by L. Ron Hubbard as if they were old time radio dramas.   When I was a kid (which really wasn’t that long ago…I keep saying that enough and it’ll be true) I used to stay up late at night with a portable transistor AM radio and tune in to some radio shows that came from some radio station in the Midwest.  I just loved the thrills and chills produced by audio only, and that feeling comes back every time I listen to these Galaxy Audio productions.  They provide excellent vocal acting, sound effects that envelope you into the story and incidental music that makes the transition between chapters and/or stories smooth.

This time around I went back into their catalog and picked up an audiobook in the “Tales from the Orient” genre of Hubbard’s stories.  The first story “Wind Gone Mad” attracted me because I had previously listened to “The Hurricane’s Roar” which was the second story to feature the character Wind-Gone-Mad.  So I was all about finding out what prompted the second story.  Turned out to be a fun adventure, but the best treat was that this audio book featured the first ever published story by L. Ron Hubbard.

“Wind-Gone-Mad,” originally published in “Top Notch” October, 1935 is tale of a madman’s plan to wipe out an entire province in pre-war China and how it is thwarted by the man they call “Feng-Feng”—the Chinese word for hurricane or “Wind-Gone-Mad.”  Jim Dahlgren, representative of the Amalgamated Aeronautical Company,  refuses to join policy to let China sort it’s own problems.  Lives are at stake, especially when a villain known as “The Butcher” is allowed to rise up with fire and sword carving the way on his warpath for complete control of the nation.  Dahlgren goes to find a mysterious aviator, the man called “Wind-Gone-Mad” who has always fought against the province warlords.  Wind-Gone-Mad  sets out to fix this broken diplomacy.

The next story is the first story by Hubbard  L. Ron Hubbard published.  He began publishing in February 1932 with the story “Tah,” which appeared in The University Hatchet, the newspaper of George Washington University, where he was attending college.  Twelve-year-old Tah is sold to the army by his father and is forced on a 24 hour march to battle.

Yellow Loot,  originally published in “Thrilling Adventures” October, 1934.  After getting their stash of amber stolen by a renegade army a search for the precious amber ends in a tumultuous race for freedom on the Great Wall of China.

This will be the one of the most fun two hours you’ve ever spent.  Enjoy!

“Cargo of Coffins” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Cargo of Coffins”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio, 2009
approx 2 hours

My audiobook excursion into the Stories from the Golden Age continues with more pulp fiction from the master story-teller L. Ron Hubbard.  This time around I gave another Sea Adventure a listen.

While Hubbard knew how to write in the twists and turns in a story to keep a reader on the edge and eager for more, the folks at Galaxy Audio know how to take these exciting stories and produce them into audio dramas that not only keep the story true to the original form but also seem to push the listener even closer to the edge.  With superb voice acting, dynamic sound effects and original music, these audio books could easily be promoted as audio dramas and find a place on the radio waves.  In fact with the fun character actors and excellent narration these audio books have the feel of the old radio dramas of the mid-20th century.

This time around the Sea Adventure takes us across the ocean.   “Cargo of Coffins” was originally published in the  November, 1937 issue of  “Argosy.”   Lars Marlin is out to seek revenge on Paco Corvino, he vows Paco will die at his hands, but a fluke of a moment finds Lars as Captain of an ocean going yacht where Paco is working as chief steward.  The wealthy family on-board all wish they could meet someone of royalty.  Paco fakes an illness and eventually his death.  He has expressly forbidden anyone to open certain envelopes in his cabin unless he dies.  With what seems like his death the crew opens the envelopes to find Paco is actually royalty, at least that’s what he wants them to believe.  After a day Paco “comes back to life” and is immediately treated according to his new-found position.

Lars knows this is a scam but under threat, by Paco, does not wish to expose his background, having escaped from a penal colony island.   Paco orders the ship to dock at the same penal colony where he loads aboard the yacht some coffins, under the guise of returning the dead men to their home soil.  It turns out Paco has alternate plans for the yacht and passengers and Lars is set to prevent that from happening before the ship can pull into Casablanca.

In an exciting story that will keep the listener wanting more, Galaxy Audio will place you on an ocean going yacht with action that seems so real you will be ducking bullets and hoping not to get seasick.

“Sabotage in the Sky” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Sabotage in the Sky”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
produced by Galaxy Audio
2009
Approx 2 hours

It’s time once again to go on an air adventure with the master of story-telling, L. Ron Hubbard.  As always make sure you’re strapped in because this one will keep you on th edge of your seat.  (Or as the the old monster truck rally commercials used to say, “You’ll pay for the whole seat but you’ll only need the edge, edge, edge.”)

Hubbard wrote many stories for the pulps in the mid 20th century and every one was meant to captivate the reader in only a few pages.  His writing achieved this but Galaxy Audio’s production of these stories into audiobooks pushes this audience captivation further.  Each of these books released by Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio are produced with excellent character acting, realistic sound effects and original music to fit the genre to transition between chapters.

This time around I listened to “Sabotage in the Sky.”  This story was originally published in “Five Novels Monthly”  August, 1940 and tells the story of test pilot Bill Trevillian.  None of the fighter planes test pilot Bill Trevillian flies are hotter than the BCA 41 pursuit ship, so he takes it up. But someone has deliberately rigged it for failure and destruction—and for Trevillian’s death.

France and Great Britain are looking for the best fighters to use in the war against the Nazis and they must choose between different American plane designs to outfly the newest and deadliest Nazi fighters, the competing companies send their two best test pilots . . . Kip and Bill.   Kip turns out to be an old friend of Bill’s but not one he remembers at first.  Kip is a dame, and according to Bill, “Dames can’t fly.”  But Kip is out to set him straight.

Kip and Bill grew up together, Bill was always the best pilot, and Kip looked up to him.   But when Bill ridicules her on her crash landing she sets out to get back at him.   But what is worse is that the Nazis have sent a saboteur to Bill’s crew in order to keep the Europeans from gaining the air advantage.

Soon Kip and Bill suspect the other of sabotage, problem that not only threatens their already electric relationship but their very lives.  The contract is to be decided in a mock air battle, but soon turns deadly when the Nazis sneak a saboteur onto each plane and plan to highjack the planes for their own use.  What soon turns out to be a sea and air battle the two pilots’ skills are put to the test.

“Brass Keys to Murder” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Brass Keys to Murder”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
produced 2009 by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours.

This time around we dive into the mystery genre from the old pulp fiction writings of L. Ron Hubbard.  Once again I just have to say that these audio books are just pure joy to hear.   The acting, sound effects and music make for a perfect performance which will help the listener escape reality and enjoy some good story telling.   Hubbard was a master of descriptive realistic stories and now that Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio are re-releasing his short stories from his pulp-fiction era, you can enjoy these gems.

The story this time is “Brass Keys to Murder,” which was originally published in the April, 1935 issue of “Five Novels Monthly” and tells of a navy lieutenant, accused of murder, who risks his life to find the real killer and discovers the motive: the brass keys.

Lt. Stephen Craig is standing watch aboard a Naval vessel when a woman comes to tell him of his father’s death.  She also warns him that the police are coming to arrest him for the murder of his father.  Lt. Craig knows he didn’t do it but the police want to close the case and Craig and his father have a history of not quite getting along.    When the police arrive, Craig basically informs them that he’s been on the ship all day and that the local police have no jurisdiction onboard an Navy ship.   This stalls but once he steps off the ship the police will be waiting.

Craig sneaks out to find some answers which leads to some shady characters and a set of 3 brass keys, which unlock not only 3 chests of treasure but possibly the answer as to who killed Lt. Craig’s father.

This is a thrilling tale of mystery with dealings in darkened alleyways and, foggy nights on a dock and twists and turns that will spin your head but will give you that big “A-Ha” moment at the end when the murderer is found and the treasure is opened.

My advice, listen to these books from Galaxy Audio, although you can read the Galaxy Press paperback versions (made to fully reproduce the pulp fiction mags of yester year), these audio productions are just some fun stuff with great character acting and narration that makes you feel as if you are listening to a radio drama from the same time period.

“Six-Gun Caballero” by L. Ron Hubbard

“Six-Gun Caballero”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-Cast Performance
Produced 2009, by Galaxy Audio
Approx. 2 hours

“Six-Gun Caballero,” originally published March, 1938 in “Western Story Magazine,” tells the tale of Michael Patrick Obañon, who may have an Irish name, but has the soul of a Spanish gentleman, loses his hundred-thousand-acre spread and has to fight his renegade foes with cunning and firepower.   Michael, or Don Michael as he is called by those who know him, is the son of an Irish immigrant and a Mexican woman and was sent off to school in Mexico city, is nothing but a pure gentleman the whole time and that politeness is what wins this little war.

New Mexico has just become part of the United States and claim jumpers are aplenty as they move into the new territory under U.S. law taking what once belonged to the Mexicans and claiming it as their own.   A band of renegades led by three men, one of which is a gambler, one is the financier and the other a sort of ruffian bodyguard type.  The fun part of this group is the gambler who speaks in card playing/gambling terms for everything.  It’s amazing how many card terms Hubbard came out with for this man’s dialogue.

The three have met their match with Michael Patrick Obañon, proud owner of a 100,000-acre spread willed to him by his father, when they make a false claim on the ranch. Faced with having to save his property and his people, Obañon takes a courageous stand against the renegades, with the help of the villagers and vaqueros and even from the local cavalry, who think the “bad guys” are the “good guys” but it turns out the “good guys” are the “bad guys.”  Yeah, this story is full of the good ol’ Hubbard twists and turns that keep you guessing what will happen next, but the listener/reader is always clear who the good guy is, after all, he is a pure gentleman.

Obañon realizes it will take far more than mere weapons to win the day. With all guns seemingly drawn against him, Michael must come up with a devious strategy of his own to outwit the imposters and regain his birthright.    With excitement all they way through 2 possible hangings and a surprise ending that even seems to surprise Don Michael, this little piece of historical fiction is a fun telling of how the west was won and how America came to be.

As always Galaxy Audio utilizes excellent vocal actors, perfect sound effects and original music to give that old time radio feel or what I have come to call an Audio Pulp.  Since the stories Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press were originally all published in the old pulp fiction magazines of the early to mid-20th century.

“The Baron of Coyote River” by L. Ron Hubbard

“The Baron of Coyote River”
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced 2010 by Galaxy Audio
approx. 2 hours

Once again I listen to a genre I never thought I would even look for, Westerns.  These audiobooks by Galaxy Audio have a little extra oomph that keep me coming back.  Galaxy Audio have been re-releasing the early works of L. Ron Hubbard, specifically his stories that were originally published in the pulp fiction magazines of the mid-20th century.  Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio have taken extra care to keep that pulp fiction feel of these stories.  Many of the short stories fit 2 or 3 per audio book but some are short novellas that fill a Galaxy Press pulp or a Galaxy Audio audio pulp.  With the audio books you feel as though you are listening to an old radio drama from around the same time period.

This book contains two stories from the pulps by Hubbard;  “The Baron of Coyote River,” originally published published in “All Western” in September 1936 and “The Reign of the Gila Monster,” originally published in “Western Aces” in September 1937.  Both of these stories are fun westerns that contain the little Hubbard twists that keep the listener / reader on the edge of their seats or anxious to turn the page to find out what happens next.

What gives these audio books the radio drama sound is a combination of the excellent voice acting, the realistic sound effects and exclusively written music.  During the stampede scene in the first story you feel as though you have been thrown on a horse and thrown in the middle of the story, the sound effects were very well done.  The casts for all these stories always create characters that are fun to hear and Jim Meskimen narrates the stories with such professionalism the listener just slides into the story.  In the second story of this book the narrator is not Meskimen but they have placed in his place (hard shoes to fill) the actor Bruce Boxleitner (Babylon 5, The Scarecrow & Mrs. King).  Boxleitner does a superb job as guest narrator, giving the listener the feel of sitting around a campfire hearing the tale.

Before I get into the separate stories I feel I need to express something.  Many people’s first response when seeing Hubbard’s name is to immediately have some remark about Scientology.  But what needs to be remembered or learned is that before that Hubbard was a master storyteller.  These Golden Age stories prove that point in that they are all fantastic and fun short stories that within just a  few pages create such enthralling characters and settings.  So before you have anything to say about the religion aspect of Hubbard’s life, put that out of your mind and just listen to or read a great story.

The first story is the title story, “The Baron of Coyote River.”  Lance Gordon is an outlaw that is wanted for killing a deputy marshall, but when he arrives in Santos in the territory of Arizona, he ends up working for the other side of the law.  It is well known around Santos, that the Baron is a cattle thief and that he hires only the best gunmen to protect his ill gotten cattle.  Even the cavalry won’t ride into his territory.  A local gunman and former cattleman rescues Lance as the sheriff attempts to haul him off to jail.  The reason being is the stranger sees in Lance a chance to get his beloved cows back.  At this point I have to tell you Hubbard can throw humor into a story that will surprise you.  In this story the humor comes from the strangers affection toward his cows, each time he would describe his stolen cows I found myself laughing out loud, yep, I LOL’d.  Anyway, back to the story.  The stranger and Lance infiltrate the Baron’s land and set out to stop this man who is making a mockery of the Territory of Arizona and keeping it from becoming a state.  All the way to the very end you will keep trying to guess what will happen next but the end will still surprise you.

The second story, “The Reign of the Gila Monster,” is a very funny western story in which Howdy Johnson has set out to create the roughest, toughest town in the west, Powderville.  As he gets the town rolling, he leaves to recruit the cowboys that are herding their stock to Chicago to stop in Powderville, thus giving the cowboys a rest on the way and creating an economic boon for the town.  While he is a way a man named Gilman (the Gila Monster) comes to town and seems to be rougher and tougher than the town itself, makes himself the Marshall and imposes taxes on everything possible and even the impossible.  When Howdy hears of this he has to return to the town to take back what is his.  This story has so many funny moments and great dialogue that it should be read over and over to catch it all.  Some of the funniest lines are in the description of Gilman, “His hat … looked bigger than an umbrella.” “He had once stepped on [a] hound dog, and … not even an inch of the animal’s tail was visible.” “He could take a bottle of whiskey in his hand, close his finger, and say, ‘Which one have I got it in?’”

Both great stories that will keep you entertained and help escape whatever you need to escape.