Texas Night Riders

by Ray Slater

Written in the early '80s in eleven days, published by a small New York paperback house, this action-filled Western is Lansdale's love letter to the Western pulps, cowboy B-movies, and television shoot-'em-up of the '50s. It has one motive. To move at a fast clip and provide the reader with plenty of two-gun action, fast riding, and the mythology of the Western hero. To quote Joe R. Lansdale, “No one is going to mistake Texas Night Riders for the Ox Bow Incident, but if you want a galloping read and no headaches in the morning, and if, like a horse rider going over rough terrain, you don't mind a few lines of bumpy prose and some literary chuck holes, this ought to do the trick.” So for the first time since the '80s, the novel appears here with some minor corrections in an edition designed for Lansdale collectors. Slap on your chaps and six-guns, get out that stick horse, give a wild Rebel yell, and ride off into the blood-red Western horizon of Joe R. Lansdale's bullet-fast, action-packed shoot-'em-up, Texas Night Riders.

Genres: Westerns

166 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1983

Reviews

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Joe Lansdale's first published novels, under the pen name Ray Slater. A stripped down Western tale of revenge. My kids dismiss the relevance of tales of frontier "justice" which comes from the barrel of a six shooter. There is an element of nostalgia (for the television shows - no, I am NOT that old that I experienced anything like this first hand), but I believe that the veneer of civilization can be awfully thin at times.

[Robert Reiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hardly feel worthy to write a review of a Western novel as this would be my first. I've also never read Lansdale prior to this so I'm scratching two "firsts" off my reading bucket list. Texas Night Riders is one of this author's first published novels (or novellas if you will). It's a pretty straightforward and simple story of man who's family gets killed by outlaws and he's out for blood. I'm certain Clint Eastwood probably played this role at least a half dozen times. The book is short and moves fast. You could easily sit down and read this in under a couple of hours and I promise you'll be entertained but might want just a bit more by the time your finished.

Anyway, I loved it. It did it's job. It satisfied my Western curiosity and set me in the mood just hours before I head to the theatres to see Tarentino's new western flick The Hateful 8. Now I'm ready to read a more serious Western. Something with more depth and meat. Anybody got any suggestions?

[Craig Childs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jubil Rains is a law-abiding farmer and rancher, just a simple ex-Confederate soldier reconnecting with his family after the war, until his wife dies unexpectedly of pneumonia. The day of her funeral, three bad men ride up on horseback, murder his boy Caleb, loot his homestead, beat him, and bury him alive. He survives but is at once transformed into a vengeance-seeking, remorseless gunslinger hell bent on getting even with those who did him wrong.

The action of this pulp Western unfolds over a week of real time. Jubil eventually casts his lot with an older rancher Brennan who is being terrorized by the same men Jubil is hunting. Fortunately, as well, Brennan has a beautiful daughter willing to help Jubil rekindle emotions he thought might have been lost to him forever.

First things first, this is not a very good book, not by a long shot. Nearly every scene is a cliché trope of one sort or the other. Characters heal from their wounds in surprisingly quick fashion, and Jubil’s grief seems oddly superficial since he is bedding and professing love to another woman before his wife’s body is even cool.

However, you have to give allowances because this is a very early Joe R Lansdale novel, published in 1983 under the pseudonym Ray Slater (a name Lansdale also used for one of his early detective characters). It was only the second solo novel he published, after Act of Love. (There was also apparently a 1982 porn novel called Molly’s Sexual Follies that he co-wrote, but for all I know that book has been lost to history.) Even in his infancy as a writer, it is clear Lansdale was already good at setting a quick pace and filling scenes with action, excitement, and gore.

This is one of the rarest Lansdale books because it is one of the few on his backlist he has not re-released as an ebook. He did allow Texas Night Riders to be revised and republished in a limited-edition hardcover by Subterranean Press in 1997, but that edition is now even harder to obtain than the original paperback published by Leisure Books.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast and fun , early western written by Joe R. Lansdale under a pseudonym . Part of the story takes place in Mud Creek , Texas . A town he used three years later as the setting for his zombie western Dead In The West .

[Fraser Burnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great early Lansdale violent pulpy western. Read, in a sitting, in the Leisure PB edition. Loved it.

[Shane Kegler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read. Feels like reading an old pulp western

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An early novel by Joe R. Lansdale and it is great.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very early Joe R. Landsale novel, written under the pen name of "Ray Slater." It's a revenge western, following the path of Jubil, a former Confederate soldier who gives up his quiet farming life to seek revenge on the three men who killed his son (and worse.) Of course, along the way things get complicated, and Jubil finds himself working with a group of farmers to free their town from some (and this is a direct quote) "bad hombres."

It's a quick read, steeped in spaghetti westerns and b-movies. It offers a lot of action, and there's definitely some Lansdale-esque moments. It's played pretty straight, but it's a worthwhile read, especially when seen as an early stepping stone in Lansdale's journey as a writer. It's not anywhere close to his best work, but it's a good read, and worth the time.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He cried great rivers. Cried himself dry for all time."

And then, he set out to kill the three men who interrupted the burial of his wife, who buried him alive, and who murdered his son!

First, he rides to the town of Mud Creek! Lansdale's "Reverend" and his "Jonah Hex" have been there, and so has Jubil Rains! A good start to the long road of revenge!

I really enjoyed this story! Jubil is one nasty mama-jama and he won me over straight away! My only complaint is that he seemed to mellow out a bit too quickly for my liking. Still, the end is right up my alley and fit the way it oughtta fit! I'd love to see Jubil, the Rev, and Hex take on every villainous outlaw, by the gods! Yee haw!

[DJMikeG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non essential early Joe R. Lansdale novel, written fast and under the Ray Slater pen name. Its okay, not terrible, but not great either. Some of Lansdale's great writing shines through, especially in the first few chapters. Moves quick and is never boring or dull, but it definitely isn't anywhere near Lansdale's other works in terms of quality.

[Ross Buffa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by Joe R. Lansdale