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Guns of Wolf Valley
When a lecherous preacher becomes obsessed with her, Callie Mosely, whose husband has been missing for more than a year, finds an ally in a wounded gunman who offers to pose as her husband and who, unbeknownst to Callie, knows her husband's whereabouts. Original.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 7, 2023
Guns of Wolf Valley: Novel by Ralph Cotton
7.5/10 Stars - A good to great book, with a few small flaws.
As a disclaimer, this is the first western I have ever read. I come from reading marine thrillers and grimdark fantasy, so keep this in mind!
Characters: 2.0/2.5
I struggled for a while in deciding this rating, but eventually decided that the characters were generally well done. There were a lot of named characters in this read, and many of them are thrown out in rapid fire near the beginning of the story. It’s not a problem I’ve encountered before, but I initially did have trouble keeping members of Falon’s gang straight as I read. Characters tended towards the more mono-dimensional, but the portrayal was still done in a manner that was enjoyable. While the main cast was alright, there was a group of outlaws introduced toward the middle of the book and they’re what bumped this rating up from a 1.5 to a 2.0. This gang was fun to read and I found myself rooting for them while they kept me turning the pages. Were they good guys? Not really. Were they entertaining? You bet your bottom dollar! Somehow, Rudy’s gang turned out to be the stars of the show for me.
The main character, C.C. Ellis was solid, though I suspect he is similar to other heroes of the genre. By the end of the book I had certainly come around to him, and he outshined the likes of Callie, Dillard and other main characters. He was relatable in his motivations and decisions, though I feel like Ellis may have been the victim of getting dragged along by the plot more than actually influencing it himself.
The villain was well done, and was a genuine threat despite being completely unlikeable --- a skillful feat of writing! Finally, there were a pair of characters who become friends (you’ll know them when you read) that helped win me over to enjoying the cast of Wolf Valley. Overall, I reckon I’ll remember quite a few of the characters, fondly even, and that deserves a good rating here.
Dialogue: 1.5/2.5
This was another rating that was hard to decide upon. The dialogue was certainly different than what I’m used to coming from other genres, but I enjoyed the turns of phrase and period-specific quips in the conversations of the book. Other reviewers evidently find the dialogue to be period-accurate, which I can appreciate. Despite that, there were a lot of times where the dialogue felt a touch stiff, maybe even silly, especially near the start of the story. I didn’t notice this near as much as the book went on, but this could just be me settling in to how the characters spoke. Overall, I’d say the dialogue was about average. It wasn’t anything amazing, but it wasn’t bad or even unenjoyable on the whole.
Plot: 2.5/2.5
The plot is where Guns of Wolf Valley shows off Ralph Cotton’s writing chops the best. The setup was intriguing. The resulting situation and ensuing romantic tension was well executed without being cliché. While the scope starts simple, more pieces appear on the board in the midgame and start to up the stakes while making the outcome even less certain. Things start slow. I remember being about 50 pages in (they read quick), and thinking that not much had happened. Immediately after that, things took off and I blew through the rest.
What impressed me the most was the last fifth of the book. There was a lot going on, with many different factions and personal agendas at play. They all come to a head nearly simultaneously in the final act, and I haven’t been so impressed with how all the plot points were unknotted and wrapped up by a single event in years! It was so good that I had to stop reading for a second and tell my wife what had happened. There weren’t as many shootouts as I expected from my first western, but the ones that occurred were quite impactful and served to really drive or resolve events.
The bottom line is, if you pick up Guns of Wolf Valley and give it a fair chance, you’re guaranteed an interesting and well resolved plot. If it didn’t start slow, I’d give it perfect marks here, but 2 out of 2.5 ain’t bad!
Writing: 1.0/2.5
If I had to pick a weak point for Guns of Wolf Valley, this is it. It’s not that Ralph Cotton is a poor writer --- I enjoyed the novel. There were just a lot of places where things felt off or suboptimal. For instance, the very first paragraph was kind of meh. It set up the location nicely, but it didn’t particularly draw my interest. The second paragraph though? That would have gotten me stuck in the book immediately, without having to read about a “seemed to” action for a character literally doing that thing.
The pacing felt good after about the fifty page mark, so there isn’t an insurmountable issue there. There are some books that are a slow burn and then pay off, but it’s important to know this going in if you have trouble finishing reads or getting invested.
The grammar and editing was what brought the rating down the most here. I don’t mind wordy writing styles, but there were multiple places where the author would start a thought, interject with an unrelated thought for a few lines, and then continue with the original thought --- all without breaking that out into multiple sentences! It was more often than not distracting.
As I understand it, there is a revised/edited version of the book simply called “Wolf Valley.” If the editing might be a problem for you, I’d suggest snagging that version instead, though I’ve also heard that the story is slightly different so your results may vary. As much as I did enjoy Guns of Wolf Valley, the editing and writing idiosyncrasies were the main thing that prevented it from being a great read, rather than just a good one.
X-Factor: + 0.5
The X-Factor for Guns of Wolf Valley is one that I never expected going into the book. Brutality. I’ve watched a few westerns before, so I was prepared for some shootouts with graphic descriptions. Coming from gritty fantasy, that’s just a little slice of home. But what I wasn’t prepared for was just how dark and brutal some scenes could be. I won’t spoil too much, but there are multiple scenes that either depict creative and brutal torture/dismemberment. That may be a warning for some readers to stay away, but I felt as though it added to the menace of the antagonists and made the story a bit better overall.
7.5/10 Stars - A good to great book, with a few small flaws.
As a disclaimer, this is the first western I have ever read. I come from reading marine thrillers and grimdark fantasy, so keep this in mind!
Characters: 2.0/2.5
I struggled for a while in deciding this rating, but eventually decided that the characters were generally well done. There were a lot of named characters in this read, and many of them are thrown out in rapid fire near the beginning of the story. It’s not a problem I’ve encountered before, but I initially did have trouble keeping members of Falon’s gang straight as I read. Characters tended towards the more mono-dimensional, but the portrayal was still done in a manner that was enjoyable. While the main cast was alright, there was a group of outlaws introduced toward the middle of the book and they’re what bumped this rating up from a 1.5 to a 2.0. This gang was fun to read and I found myself rooting for them while they kept me turning the pages. Were they good guys? Not really. Were they entertaining? You bet your bottom dollar! Somehow, Rudy’s gang turned out to be the stars of the show for me.
The main character, C.C. Ellis was solid, though I suspect he is similar to other heroes of the genre. By the end of the book I had certainly come around to him, and he outshined the likes of Callie, Dillard and other main characters. He was relatable in his motivations and decisions, though I feel like Ellis may have been the victim of getting dragged along by the plot more than actually influencing it himself.
The villain was well done, and was a genuine threat despite being completely unlikeable --- a skillful feat of writing! Finally, there were a pair of characters who become friends (you’ll know them when you read) that helped win me over to enjoying the cast of Wolf Valley. Overall, I reckon I’ll remember quite a few of the characters, fondly even, and that deserves a good rating here.
Dialogue: 1.5/2.5
This was another rating that was hard to decide upon. The dialogue was certainly different than what I’m used to coming from other genres, but I enjoyed the turns of phrase and period-specific quips in the conversations of the book. Other reviewers evidently find the dialogue to be period-accurate, which I can appreciate. Despite that, there were a lot of times where the dialogue felt a touch stiff, maybe even silly, especially near the start of the story. I didn’t notice this near as much as the book went on, but this could just be me settling in to how the characters spoke. Overall, I’d say the dialogue was about average. It wasn’t anything amazing, but it wasn’t bad or even unenjoyable on the whole.
Plot: 2.5/2.5
The plot is where Guns of Wolf Valley shows off Ralph Cotton’s writing chops the best. The setup was intriguing. The resulting situation and ensuing romantic tension was well executed without being cliché. While the scope starts simple, more pieces appear on the board in the midgame and start to up the stakes while making the outcome even less certain. Things start slow. I remember being about 50 pages in (they read quick), and thinking that not much had happened. Immediately after that, things took off and I blew through the rest.
What impressed me the most was the last fifth of the book. There was a lot going on, with many different factions and personal agendas at play. They all come to a head nearly simultaneously in the final act, and I haven’t been so impressed with how all the plot points were unknotted and wrapped up by a single event in years! It was so good that I had to stop reading for a second and tell my wife what had happened. There weren’t as many shootouts as I expected from my first western, but the ones that occurred were quite impactful and served to really drive or resolve events.
The bottom line is, if you pick up Guns of Wolf Valley and give it a fair chance, you’re guaranteed an interesting and well resolved plot. If it didn’t start slow, I’d give it perfect marks here, but 2 out of 2.5 ain’t bad!
Writing: 1.0/2.5
If I had to pick a weak point for Guns of Wolf Valley, this is it. It’s not that Ralph Cotton is a poor writer --- I enjoyed the novel. There were just a lot of places where things felt off or suboptimal. For instance, the very first paragraph was kind of meh. It set up the location nicely, but it didn’t particularly draw my interest. The second paragraph though? That would have gotten me stuck in the book immediately, without having to read about a “seemed to” action for a character literally doing that thing.
The pacing felt good after about the fifty page mark, so there isn’t an insurmountable issue there. There are some books that are a slow burn and then pay off, but it’s important to know this going in if you have trouble finishing reads or getting invested.
The grammar and editing was what brought the rating down the most here. I don’t mind wordy writing styles, but there were multiple places where the author would start a thought, interject with an unrelated thought for a few lines, and then continue with the original thought --- all without breaking that out into multiple sentences! It was more often than not distracting.
As I understand it, there is a revised/edited version of the book simply called “Wolf Valley.” If the editing might be a problem for you, I’d suggest snagging that version instead, though I’ve also heard that the story is slightly different so your results may vary. As much as I did enjoy Guns of Wolf Valley, the editing and writing idiosyncrasies were the main thing that prevented it from being a great read, rather than just a good one.
X-Factor: + 0.5
The X-Factor for Guns of Wolf Valley is one that I never expected going into the book. Brutality. I’ve watched a few westerns before, so I was prepared for some shootouts with graphic descriptions. Coming from gritty fantasy, that’s just a little slice of home. But what I wasn’t prepared for was just how dark and brutal some scenes could be. I won’t spoil too much, but there are multiple scenes that either depict creative and brutal torture/dismemberment. That may be a warning for some readers to stay away, but I felt as though it added to the menace of the antagonists and made the story a bit better overall.
July 16, 2018
Not a bad read. It's been several years since I read a Western, and it's a fun genre to get into. Lots of good characters in this one. Liked the cult aspect of the story. It added to the frustration for the folks you root for.
September 28, 2019
Okay. Got me through another week in the exercise room.
May 22, 2025
Good, solid western. The bad guy is a dirty snake that every woman'll want to shoot full o'bullets. Lots of colorful characters, as westerns go. I haven't read a lot, but it was entertaining enough.
May 25, 2015
While I am not a big fan of westerns, I do read one once in a while just as a break from my usual genre’s. I find them enjoyable.
I read one other book by Mr. Cotton, Blood Lands, and enjoyed that one. I am a big fan of JA Johnstone and thoroughly enjoy his works.
I just finished “Guns of Wolf Valley” and found it to be…mediocre.
The story was okay, decent. At points I thought it was a bit draggy but then picked up relatively quickly. My biggest complaint was there seemed to be an overabundance of characters. In addition to the protagonist, CC Ellis, there were two other factions—men who followed Frank Falon and me who followed Father Jessup. There was another group that was loyal to Ellis. It was a bit confusing to keep track of that many characters and who was backstabbing who.
I would have rated this book a 2 but the great ending bumped it to a 3.
I read one other book by Mr. Cotton, Blood Lands, and enjoyed that one. I am a big fan of JA Johnstone and thoroughly enjoy his works.
I just finished “Guns of Wolf Valley” and found it to be…mediocre.
The story was okay, decent. At points I thought it was a bit draggy but then picked up relatively quickly. My biggest complaint was there seemed to be an overabundance of characters. In addition to the protagonist, CC Ellis, there were two other factions—men who followed Frank Falon and me who followed Father Jessup. There was another group that was loyal to Ellis. It was a bit confusing to keep track of that many characters and who was backstabbing who.
I would have rated this book a 2 but the great ending bumped it to a 3.
October 18, 2013
Always enjoy a good western once in a while and this one was enjoyable for me to read. Mr. Cotton has provided a nice fictional tale of the old west as it may have been. C. C. Ellis is the hero with a checkered past who must confront Father Jessup and his group of followers in an effort to save the community of Wolf Valley. He stumbles through obstacles and loses some friends along the way. A nice reading adventure.
August 15, 2011
This western story had a very different twist about a preacher who takes over Wolf Valley and EVERYTHING in it. Including other men's wives, land and money.
It is a very violent story and my least favorite part was the offensive language. But I liked the way the story was resolved. It was like life: just when you think you have things figured out, someone throws you another curve ball.
It is a very violent story and my least favorite part was the offensive language. But I liked the way the story was resolved. It was like life: just when you think you have things figured out, someone throws you another curve ball.
February 14, 2009
This looks too funny. Is it a western or a romance? It is in the library and I bought it, so maybe I should figure that out.
August 19, 2015
Crazy Hypocrite
Waco was not the first town in Texas to come under the control of an evil man like David Koresh.
Waco was not the first town in Texas to come under the control of an evil man like David Koresh.
February 16, 2016
Good ol' western. However, gratuitous smut and the author could hire an editor. Seriously. His books include misspellings and characters names are crossed at times
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews