# Western: "Dead Men's Fingers" by Tyler Brentmore



## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

I'm resurrecting a half-forgotten pseudonym - Tyler Brentmore - and the Western that bore the name, *Dead Men's Fingers* launched today on the Kindle.

Blurb:
Leaving behind memories of bloodshed and sorrow, Jed Longman signs to a company of wagons to take his three sons to a better life out West. But trouble keeps snapping at his heels. First there's the persistent Mrs Harris with her school ma'am attitude so contrary to her fancy coach-guns, then the threat of fever, then the ruthless killer Baddell determined to haunt him and his into an unmarked grave. Sometimes a family man has to remember how to stand alone.

_*Dead Men's Fingers*_ is a fast-paced Western in the classic style. 35,000 words.

I'm looking for some reviews, so if you are interested in the genre drop me a DM.

 USA: Dead Men's Fingers $2.99 UK: Dead Men's Fingers £1.95 http://www.tylerbrentmore.com


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Linda-

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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Thanks, Betsy - especially the nod to bookmarking the page. I'd forgotten!


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

A couple of reviews in on the Amazon.co.uk page:

"...The story grabs you from the start and makes itself very hard to put down. ...leaving the reader to hold their breath as they follow Jed Longman, the wonderfully unstereotypical Mrs Harris and Fremont's wagon train as it makes its way west."

"...This is more than merely a traditional western tale, though the book can easily be read on that level. Multi-layered, the story examines prejudice, the mind-set of the mob, courage, honesty, evil versus good, and even love..."


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Go on, you know you can't resist a Western...


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

_Dead Men's Fingers_ is now available from Smashwords for download in .mobi and ePub formats for the Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony, etc.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

"Dead Men's Fingers" is taking advantage of a 50% discount for Read an Ebook Week!

Use the code *RW50* at the checkout:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/136833

All of my other - Linda Acaster - ebooks on Smashwords are offered at 50% off, which means one is free!


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Post Civil War, when men who'd been trained to kill brought with them their own brand of morality.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Saddle up an' head 'em out, with a not-quite nostalgic Western.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

What is the prim Mrs Harris, with her lace-gloves and barley-sugar candy in her reticule, doing with a pair of fancy coach-guns?
Especially the one with the cut-down barrels.

Enjoy your Good Friday day off (yeah right) with a fast-paced Western novella.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Tyler has his own weblog to which he's adding what, to me, is interesting Western info and trivia. What's more he's adding it each Friday or Saturday, which is a sight more often than I'm adding to my own. Perhaps I should shift this alter ego over a bit more.

Enjoy your Westerns, whatever the sub-genre.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

A great review!

"...This is a tough little Western(only 61 pages), as gritty and bloody as they come. The descriptions are so realistic one can almost feel the arid heat and see the stark surroundings as the wagons push across the plains, and feel the splash of the water and see the mud being churned up as they ford the river. Dead Man’s Fingers may be short, but it’s filled with plenty of narrative, description, and characterization..."

I'm not sure about the "61 pages". It's a novella, certainly, coming in at 34,000 words. Amazon states it is 208 pages (I don't think so). It came in at 156 in the original print version. All these estimates are just confusing.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

From a review:

"...Jed is a good man, a caring father but a man aware of how his past may catch up with him sooner or later. The villains are a motley crew, and as bad a bunch as you can find, this side of a Rawhide episode..."

_Rawhide_, eh? Wow, that takes me back.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

"Think any Clint Eastwood-directed Western movie and you’ve got a good idea of Dead Man’s Fingers..."

Oooh accolades - I love it!


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Considering "nobody reads Westerns" I'm pleased with sales. 

Join me for a bit of "shoot 'em dead an' hang 'em high!"


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

When a preacher and a saddle tramp spin tales of a flash flood wash-out, the émigrés offer food and solace to starving men. But one has sharp eyes, and Jed Longman is recognised. For him there's no escaping the _Dead Men's Fingers_.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

_Dead Men's Fingers_ has a new cover from our very own Karri Klawiter http://artbykarri.com/



Off the quality scale in comparison to what's sitting in my sig line, I'm sure you'll agree. Laugh while you can. The sig pic will soon be history.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

From a review:

"...The story grabs you from the start and makes itself very hard to put down. It's clear from the off that things won't go smoothly for widower Jed Longman and his three sons. Apart from anything else, they're setting out on a journey to what Jed hopes is a better life, but with no guarantees they'll make it alive..."


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Tipping my hat towards the Old West. I'll be glad when the new characters bubbling in my head make it to the desktop. For a while, though, it'll just have to be _Dead Men's Fingers_ travelling on its own.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Saturday 28th July is the 8th National Day of the Cowboy. Preserve the Heritage. What do you aim to do?


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

When a widower hides his guns and refuses to face his past, trouble is a certain outcome.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

"A new white hat is the best signaling device known to man." So says the wagonmaster. 

It also makes him the best target.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

For a change I thought I'd add in an excerpt from the opening of the book. Enjoy...

  The torch nearest the corner flared as Wharton turned into the alley, his shadow stretching ahead of him before melding with the darkness caught between the buildings. Pausing to belch, he reached out a hand to steady himself against the rotting clap-board. Part of his winnings had gone on the extra bottle, and part on feeling up that new whore of Molly’s. Little cat had tried to take him to one of the back rooms, but he wasn’t so drunk that he was a fool. He’d leave her ’til he was sober. A man needed to get his money’s worth, and that new one looked worth his money.
  Sure of his gait now, he headed for the deeper patch of black that crowded the door to the flop-house. He’d nearly made it to the step when someone called his name. A shape as dark as the Devil eased out from the wall to stand silhouetted in the torchlight.
  “Bin a long time, Wharton. Keepin’ well, I hope.”
  There was a sharp scraping and a Lucifer flared. Wharton saw the face beneath the broad brim and dragged in such a breath that he nearly choked on it.
  “You!” 
  “Yer, me, come back to haunt yer just like I promised.”
  The hand lowered, pooling the match’s flickering light along the waiting gun barrel. Wharton stumbled back, his bowels as unsteady as his legs.
  “No! Weren’t me. Were Baddell. Were Baddell’s notion, all o’it. ”
  “That’s what the others said. Didn’t save them neither.”
  The Lucifer faded and the gun roared.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Just back from a holiday in the South West. In Colorado we were in Durango for a few days, enjoying the scenery, particularly the trip on the narrow gauge steam railway into the mountains to Silverton. Wonderful scenery and plenty of interesting research.


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Kick off your boots, pull up a jar, and enjoy a fast-paced Western "...as bloody and gritty as they come..."


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

With Quentin Tarantino's _Django Unchained_ now at movie theatres perhaps there'll be a resurgence in reading historical "Westerns".


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## Linda Acaster (May 31, 2010)

Giving this title a giddy-up. If you are looking for a fast-paced novella with plenty of action and characters who aren't what they seem... Dead Men's Fingers
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076QKFME


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