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Mark Counter's Kin
Short stories focussing on the exploits of Mark Counter's famous kin.
- GenresWesterns
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
22 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
J.T. Edson
185 books79 followersJohn Thomas Edson is an English writer of Westerns.
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 13, 2013
Four stories, three time periods, two continents; This book covers a lot of ground. The first story is set in Africa and involves James Allenvale 'Bunduki' Gunn. Bunduki (which is Swahili for 'gun') is a great-grandson of Mark Counter and the star of his own four book series (a fifth book was reportedly written by JT but never released). Despite being a game warden by profession he and some of his friends stage a fight to promote a forthcoming movie. Described as being a near 'twin' in appearance to his African based cousin, Deputy Sheriff Bradford Counter is also a great-grandson of Marks and is the feature of the second story. Brad also stars in the Rockabye County series which like the Bunduki books are set during the 1960s-1970s. Like Mark he is exceptionally fast with a gun, something that is a bit more unusual in his time. In this story Brad and his partner are on a stakeout watching for smugglers; just what the criminals are smuggling proves a bit harder to determine.
An Uncle to (and frequently quoted by) Brad Counter and grandson to Mark, Sergeant Ranse Smith of the third story served as a Texas Ranger during the turbulent 1920s. Ranse is not the only descendant of the floating outfit to serve in the special Company Z, Alvin Fog and Mark Scrapton are the grandsons of Dusty Fog and the Ysabel Kid. In an amusing tidbit for loyal fans, throughout the series while undercover for Company Z the descendants use aliases created by their grandfathers in the original floating outfit series. Mark Scrapton is Comanche Blood while Alvin Fog is Rapido Clint. Because Mark Counter did not go undercover with Dusty and the Kid, Ranse uses the alias William 'Bad Bill' Longley. Unfortunately this story demonstrates part of the reason why the original 'blond giant' never went under cover: his appearance is just too recognizable. Despite being 'made' Ranse is able to complete his first assignment as a Ranger and bring down a major mobster.
The final story involving Mark's aunt and cousin actually takes place during the same time frame as the floating outfit series. Trudeau Front de Boeuf even appears occasionally in the series during Troubled Range and Cut One, They All Bleed. While having a similar appearance to Mark, Trudeau lacks his work ethic or integrity. He and his mother are con-artists and such black sheep that the rest of the family prefer not to claim them. This is demonstrated in The Code of Dusty Fog where Mark is quick to explain that the rest of the Front de Boeuf family are NOT like his aunt and cousin who find themselves 'escorted' out of the county in this story.
An Uncle to (and frequently quoted by) Brad Counter and grandson to Mark, Sergeant Ranse Smith of the third story served as a Texas Ranger during the turbulent 1920s. Ranse is not the only descendant of the floating outfit to serve in the special Company Z, Alvin Fog and Mark Scrapton are the grandsons of Dusty Fog and the Ysabel Kid. In an amusing tidbit for loyal fans, throughout the series while undercover for Company Z the descendants use aliases created by their grandfathers in the original floating outfit series. Mark Scrapton is Comanche Blood while Alvin Fog is Rapido Clint. Because Mark Counter did not go undercover with Dusty and the Kid, Ranse uses the alias William 'Bad Bill' Longley. Unfortunately this story demonstrates part of the reason why the original 'blond giant' never went under cover: his appearance is just too recognizable. Despite being 'made' Ranse is able to complete his first assignment as a Ranger and bring down a major mobster.
The final story involving Mark's aunt and cousin actually takes place during the same time frame as the floating outfit series. Trudeau Front de Boeuf even appears occasionally in the series during Troubled Range and Cut One, They All Bleed. While having a similar appearance to Mark, Trudeau lacks his work ethic or integrity. He and his mother are con-artists and such black sheep that the rest of the family prefer not to claim them. This is demonstrated in The Code of Dusty Fog where Mark is quick to explain that the rest of the Front de Boeuf family are NOT like his aunt and cousin who find themselves 'escorted' out of the county in this story.
February 19, 2012
Foul language does not make a book a better read, so this was not one of his better books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews