#14: Meet Me in Moredo by Marshall Grover

Big Jim Rand is hunting his brother's killer, but gets distracted rescuing a woman from an arranged marriage, in Marshall Grover's Meet Me in Moredo.

Big Jim is a tough former Calvary officer, and the storytelling is pretty straightforward, with mild nods to comic relief from his sidekick and some lightly sketched romance.

Marshall Grover wrote the Big Jim series, the Larry and Streak series, and quite a few others under a handful of names.  But even though he was churning fast, I've always thought his stories are a notch above the usual fare.

I got this one for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#12: The Garrard Heritage by Marshall Grover

A dying gunslinger convinces a pair of good-hearted cowpokes to help the family he left behind in Marshall Grover's The Garrard Heritage.

Grover was really Australian author Len Meares, who wrote "Larry and Streak" westerns, "Big Jim" westerns, and lots and lots of others in his prolific career.  

Larry and Streak are comedically laconic, but also with an almost supernatural ability to fight rooms full of owlhoots and shoot without a miss.  Some editions call them "Larry and Stretch" and appear under "Marshall McCoy," confounding everything further.

To me, these are very rare to find in the wild, so I was happy to luck into this at a goodbye price at a used book shop.  They are meant to read quickly and enjoy, as I did on a camping trip.

#38: Trail 3 South by Glenn Murrell

A young man from a poor background in a frontier town wants nothing more than to be a Wells Fargo driver; but when he gets a chance he is robbed the first time out, leading him on a danger-filled trail to recover the loot in Glenn Murrell's Trail 3 South.

This seeming country bumpkin has secretly been honing his formidable gunfighting skills, leading to several surprises along the way.  He matches wits with a deadly outlaw gang as well as stands against the prejudices of the town.

I was happy to find out this Cleveland Western was written by Leonard Meares, possibly best known as "Marshall Grover," the author of two top-flight western series, "Nevada Jim" and "Larry and Streak."

Nevada Jim is a hard-nosed gun-hand with his own code, and Larry and Streak are a pair of laconic cowpokes with lightning-fast gun skills but a very easy-going attitude.  The first is pretty sober and the second runs more to comedy, with this non-series entry landing somewhere in between.

I think Meares is one of the better writers in the prolific Cleveland stable, as this entry is more expansive in storytelling, and the characters more colorful, than in some of the offerings.

I got this in a big lot of Cleveland Westerns and read it quickly.

#46: Ride Reckless by Marshall Grover

Two easygoing, but deadly, Texas cowpokes drift into a town ready to explode after a prospector hides a fortune in gold--and promptly dies--in Marshall Grover's Ride Reckless.

Grover was Australian Leonard Meares, who wrote literally hundreds of fast-paced westerns over several decades.  Somewhat inexplicably he is called Marshall McCoy in the States, and his two laconic protagonists Larry and Stretch are called Larry and Streak.  

Under either name, Larry and Streak take a bit of a backseat to a story about a western town under the thrall of a criminally-inclined mayor and a crooked sheriff.  The arrival of a crotchety old lady--who is the mother of the town lawyer's wife--and the niece of the dead prospector--conveniently married to a town-taming lawman--sets the whole machine of the narrative running.

Larry and Streak are a bit of a comedic Greek chorus, with the added benefit of fist fights and gun play when the story needs moving along.

I find Grover's books fast and easy reading; I knocked this one out on a weekend camping trip, and would recommend Larry and Streak to any western fans.

#19: Too Rough for San Remo by Marshall Grover

Two amiable but dangerous Texas cowpokes drift into a small town about to explode in a deadly double-cross in Marshall Grover's Too Rough for San Remo.

Grover was Australian Leonard Meares, who clocked hundreds and hundreds of westerns in his time, with a number landing on these shores.  Confusing is that he is called Marshall McCoy here, for some reason, and his easygoing protagonists Larry and Stretch are called Larry and Streak.  He is also wrote another, more sober series called Big Jim which was christened Nevada Jim here.

These slender volumes are hard to find in the wild, so I have a tendency to buy any I find for under ten dollars, anywhere.  This one relies less on comedy and more on a large ensemble cast of outlaws, including a batch passing themselves off as soldiers to steal some gold.

After an opening scene where Larry and Stretch are skinny-dipping and left to wander naked after all of their clothes--as well as their guns and horses--are stolen, they seem to take a bit of a back seat to the action, signing on as reluctant deputies to catch the owlhoots.

I enjoy these fast-moving and fast-reading westerns and think it is a series worth seeking out.

#29: Hot Sky Over Paraiso by Marshall Grover

Texas gun-hands Larry and Stretch agree to help a professor and his daughter recover gold from a web of haunted cliff dwellings in Marshall Grover's Hot Sky Over Paraiso.

Grover was Australian author Leonard Meares, whose staggering output of western writing included this series and a more sober one, Big Jim.

Larry and Stretch are almost superhuman in their fist- and gun-fighting capabilities but are good-natured and funny as well.  Their stories are always plentiful in action but definitely on the lighter side with plotting.

Slightly confounding in the history of Larry and Stretch is that the American versions of these novels were credited to "Marshall McCoy" and Stretch was called "Streak."  It was one of these that I found in an antique store in Arcadia, Florida, my first of these to ever find on the loose.

I read this in a single day on vacation and always enjoy this series when I come across one.

#55: No Gun is Neutral by Marshall Grover

Nevada Jim is drifting, but drifts right into a war between ranchers and farmers, in No Gun is Neutral.

Marshall Grover (in reality an Australian writer named Leonard Meares) was an extremely prolific author of westerns, and Nevada Jim (also called Big Jim) drifted across the plains in lots of novels (as did a pair of cowpokes called Larry and Stretch, who figured into another long-running series).

This tight western tries on, rather curiously, a Romeo and Juliet style subplot between a ranch family and a farm family, but still leaves plenty of time for shooting and fighting.

Although I first learned of Meares through Piccadilly Publishing, who has done admirable work in bringing these oaters back to a digital generation, I bought this in a lot of vintage westerns from eBay and read it quickly.

#33: Seven Westbound by Marshall Grover

Big Jim is looking for the man that gunned down his kid brother, but in the meantime helps guard a stagecoach carrying a dangerous outlaw, in Marshall Grover's Seven Westbound.

Seven Westbound is a tight little western, with colorful characters, including a bandit leader who always wears a mask (whose identity is, naturally, revealed in a surprise ending).  Plenty of action ensues when the outlaw's gang uses every means at hand to try and spring him.

Marshall Grover was actually Leonard Meares, and was also Marshall McCoy, which is what name the books were released under in the U.S.  To add to the confusion, Big Jim was called Nevada Jim in the U.S.  Either way, Meares knocked out hundreds of novels featuring Big Jim and other characters.

I first learned about Meares through Piccadilly Publishing, which has been bringing these back via Kindle.  This one, and several others, came out of  an ebay lot of vintage westerns.  Definitely on the prowl for more of these.

#26: Limbo Pass by Marshall Grover

A peaceful frontier town is the target of a ruthless gang's bank robbery and murder, and a ragtag posse--with an aging sheriff, a widow, a pacifist, a gambler, a drunken doctor, and others--set off in pursuit.  But the odds are in their favor as at the front rides Big Jim, with his own score to settle, in Marshall Grover's Limbo Pass.

Marshall Grover was actually Leonard Meares, who wrote hundreds of westerns about Big Jim and other series characters.  Piccadilly Publishing is bringing these back via Kindle, but this one is an American paperback that I got from ebay in a big lot of vintage westerns, where the lead is called "Nevada Jim" and the pseudonym is "Marshall McCoy" for whatever reason.

But despite this winding publishing history, Limbo Pass is plenty rip-roaring, as the posse struggles with each other as well as a seemingly unbeatable gang, whose reason for knowing their every move is revealed in the final chapters.  Slender but satisfying, for fans of spaghetti-style westerns.

#8: Drift! by Marshall Grover

Two rowdy Texas cowpokes end up helping a schoolmarm intent on testifying against an outlaw in Marshall Grover's laconic Western Drift!

Drift! was the first of Grover's long-running series featuring Larry and Stretch, two hard-drinking and hard-fighting Texans who nonetheless have hearts of gold.  This entry was an even mix of tongue-in-cheek comedy and raucous action, with engaging characters.  The formula apparently worked for a long while.

I had never heard of Marshall Grover before the new year, and yet have read two inaugural series novels from Grover this month, liking them both. Leonard Meares was an Australian author who wrote as "Marshall Grover" and under a passel of other names.

I read this quickly on my beloved Kindle via Piccadilly Publishing, who seem intent on bringing back tons of classic Westerns from (primarily) British writers.

#1: The Night McLennan Died by Marshall Grover

Big Jim Rand resigns his military commission to hunt the man that shot his brother in the back; but the trail turns towards a town under siege that needs a new deputy quick in Marshall Grover's The Night McLennan Died.

Piccadilly Publishing is re-issuing this long-running western series by the prolific Grover, and I snatched this first one up at an introductory price for my beloved Kindle.  Leonard Meares was the Australian author who wrote as "Marshall Grover" and kept busy with other pseudonyms as well.

Grover writes a burly western full of tough action and gunplay, with little time for frontier romance (though a wily Mexican sidekick provides some mild comic relief).  I prefer my westerns lean and laconic, and this one delivers.

This is my first introduction to Marshall Grover, and I will look for more of his writing.