This was a fun book, but it definitely dragged on. It was dull and dryly written. It felt like it took a long time to read. But I would read more from this author.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this e-galley to review!

i tried hard to get into this book and i just couldn’t. something about it put me in a reading slump.

I am a lover of the western genre which includes many varieties of stories told in many more different voices.  Some are seriously shoot em ups, some hang em highs, some nothing but a stroll through what the author considers to be western.  I'm usually picky about which authors i read because I like authentic westerns, Louis Lamour, Zane Grey, Elmer Kelton and of course, the Johnstones.  This is Clay Houston Shivers first western and I found it very entertaining.  Not your typical western and it will not fit any one category, so read it with the expectation of something new and fresh and you'll be surprised how much you like it.

Told as the remembrances of an old man who has lived a long, eventful life, the story unwinds just like you're listening to the stories of the old farmer down the road.  Curly Barnes was a bartender in one of the last "safe" towns in his part of the west.  The law was king and ladies could walk the street most of the time.  Then the sheriff goes and gets himself killed.  The whole story then advances on the search for a new sheriff while fighting off those who would take the town.  Lots of swearing and blood, sweat and tears later, you've had an very entertaining journey through Curly's adventures. Maybe not as authentic as Lamour, but a good read none the less.

"The west was a lawless place. And a safe town in a lawless place is a beacon to those who seek a new life for themselves..."

The Maurauders of Pitchfork Pass reads like a comedic, old-timey Western movie. From the publisher's synopsis, I expected something gritty and perhaps a little dry, so I was surprised to find myself often laughing out loud at the blunt, sarcastic humor within the pages.

"I wanted to push him into a vat of soap; the man smelled like vulture puke."

Curly Barnes, the local saloon owner, barkeep, primary protagonist, and first-person narrator, is entertaining, often inappropriate, and self-aware. 

"I'm a charming rascal, as I might have mentioned."

There is nothing genteel or politically correct about the story; while rough language and graphic depictions of violence may be commonplace in the Western genre, these won't appeal to all readers universally, and didn't sit particularly well with me. 

"The Comanches didn't stop for anything unless it could be looted or scalped."

Overall, I enjoyed the sense of humor that Clay Houston Shivers brought to his writing, but didn't feel a genuine connection with the genre or the graphic violence. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.


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Thank-you to Clay Houston Shivers, BookBuzz, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!


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This was my first Old Western and I was pleasantly surprised. Going in I was expecting something dry and slow, so the quick pace was a surprise but definitely well suited to the book. 

I found this an interesting read with enjoyable characters that were funny, while still holding true with the seriousness of the situation. 

Sadly the format leaves a lot to be desired, but since this was a review copy I imagine it will be sorted out before final print.

Clay Houston Shivers first novel, The Marauders Of Pitchfork Pass, is definitely a very wild yarn about the Wild West. Colorful characters with often witty dialogue.

However, I thought the writing really lacked cohesiveness. At times, I felt the story was humorous - at other times,  it was pushing the edge of offensive. (God and/or religious reference, and Comanches eating a baby among them), then there was old time corny expressions, intermixed with the use of f*bombs. I wasn’t convinced that this account (as was written in the preface) was supposed to be told and written down in 1926 (by Curly Barnes). It had more of a present day, type B, spaghetti western feel. More of  a semi-traditional western, what comes to mind is a book of many colors.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.