Wednesday 22 November 2017

New Wilderness Giant Edition Out Now

Released today is the next Giant Wilderness Edition: The Trail West (number 5 in our series) written by David Robbins 9- as David Thompson.



THE STORY

Nate King was a master trapper, a loyal friend and an almost legendary grizzly killer. But when a rich Easterner hired the bravest of all the frontiersmen to guide him to the virgin lands west of the Rockies, Nate found his life threatened by hostile Indians, back-shooters and renegade settlers out to rob him and his party. If he failed to meet every challenge and defeat every enemy.

Available from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.ukAmazon.co.uk / Smashwords / iTunes / Barnes & Noble

Monday 20 November 2017

Tony Masero Art for Sale

www.tony.masero.co.uk

We know you all love a bargain, and here's the chance to grab some merchandise from Tony Masero.
Below are just a couple of examples of what you can expect from the maestro...


All you need to do is pop along to his new website:

www.tony.masero.co.uk


Happy shopping

Thursday 3 August 2017

Coming your way soon ...

Savour the taste of death ...


A vampire horror thriller out soon by????

We're keeping that a dark secret until the big reveal.

Thursday 27 July 2017

CALL TO ARMS pre-release reveal

We are exciting here at Piccadilly Towers that we are able to share with you the news of our new acquisition.

CALL TO ARMS - A sweeping saga which traces the turbulent history of American through the lives of men and women whose deeds and dreams would forever mark the world ...written by Frederick Nolan.

When the books were first published, for some unfathomable reason Bantam Books split the books. They published A PROMISE OF GLORY and BLIND DUTY under Frederick Nolan but the third in the series FIELD OF HONOR was under the name of Danielle Rockfern. Go figure!

So at Piccadilly we are putting them out as intended by the author. A Promise of Glory will be released on March 08, 2018, and BLIND DUTY and FIELD OF HONOR will follow on April 8 and May 8.

And the covers feature the striking artwork by Don Stivers.

Hope you welcome the trilogy with opened arms (ouch - bad pun!).

Mike
 

 
 


Wednesday 19 July 2017

On this Day in History...


July 19, 1879


DOC HOLLIDAY KILLS FOR THE FIRST TIME! 

 


 

Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon.
Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Doc Holliday only engaged in eight shootouts during his life, and it has only been verified that he killed two men. Still, the smartly dressed ex-dentist from Atlanta had a remarkably fearless attitude toward death and danger, perhaps because he was slowly dying from tuberculosis.
In 1879, Holliday settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he opened a saloon with a partner. Holliday spent his evenings gambling in the saloon and he seemed determined to stress his health condition by heavy drinking. A notorious cad, Holliday also enjoyed the company of the dance hall girls that the partners hired to entertain the customers–which sometimes sparked trouble.
On this day in 1879, a former army scout named Mike Gordon tried to persuade one of Holliday’s saloon girls to quit her job and run away with him. When she refused, Gordon became infuriated. He went out to the street and began to fire bullets randomly into the saloon. He didn’t have a chance to do much damage–after the second shot, Holliday calmly stepped out of the saloon and dropped Gordon with a single bullet. Gordon died the next day.
The following year, Holliday abandoned the saloon business and joined his old friend Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona. There he would kill his second victim, during the famous “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” in October 1881. During the subsequent six years, Holliday assisted at several other killings and wounded a number of men in gun battles. His hard drinking and tuberculosis eventually caught up with him, and he retired to a Colorado health resort where he died in 1887. Struck by the irony of such a peaceful end to a violent life, his last words reportedly were “This is funny.”
 
 
 

 

Doc is “featured” in The Gunsmith series written by J.R. Roberts

415: THE FUNERAL OF DOC HOLLIDAY


The death of the legendary Doc Holliday brought Clint Adams to an impromptu wake following the funeral in Colton, California. The mourners in attendance would have made any outlaw shake in their boots: Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Bat Masterson, Luke Short, “Turkey Creek” Jack Johnson and Sherman McMaster. After the funeral everyone left town, but Clint stayed to help Virgil—who was the Marshal of Colton—with a problem involving a group of cowboys. When Clint asked if there was going to be another O.K. Corral, Virgil said no, and assured him that the two of them could handle it. He shouldn't have said that, because he didn't know what kind of trouble was heading their way. If the the Gunsmith and the lawman didn't resolve matters, they weren't going to have much of a future …

Purchase your copy:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=J.R.+ROBERTS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=J+R+ROBERTS+GUNSMITH+PICCADILLY
 
 

Thursday 13 July 2017

On This Day in History ...

July 14, 1881



''¿Quien es? ¿Quien es?''
136 years ago on this day, those were (allegedly) the last words spoken by William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid.

* Pat Garrett was elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880 on a reform ticket with the expectation that he would reinstate justice in the area. One of his first acts was to capture Billy the Kid, sending him to trial for the murder of the Lincoln sheriff and his deputy. Garrett was away from Lincoln on county business when the Kid made his escape. Rather than chase after the fugitive, Garrett kept to his ranch mending fences and attending to his cattle. In July, the Sheriff received word that the Kid was hiding out at the abandoned Fort Sumner about 140 miles west of Lincoln. Rounding up two of his deputies, John Poe and Thomas McKinney, Garrett set off in pursuit of the Kid.

On the night of July 14, the Sheriff and his two deputies approached the dusty old Fort now converted to living quarters. The residents were sympathetic to the Kid and the lawmen could extract little information. Garrett decided to seek out an old friend, Peter Maxwell, who might tell him the Kid's whereabouts. As chance would have it, the Kid stumbled right into the Sheriff's hands. Garrett published his account of the incident a year after it happened:
Pat Garret
"I then concluded to go and have a talk with Peter Maxwell, Esq., in whom I felt sure I could rely. We had ridden to within a short distance of Maxwell's grounds when we found a man in camp and stopped. To Poe's great surprise, he recognized in the camper an old friend and former partner, in Texas, named Jacobs. We unsaddled here, got some coffee, and, on foot, entered an orchard which runs from this point down to a row of old buildings, some of them occupied by Mexicans, not more than sixty yards from Maxwell's house. We approached these houses cautiously, and when within earshot, heard the sound of voices conversing in Spanish. We concealed ourselves quickly and listened; but the distance was too great to hear words, or even distinguish voices. Soon a man arose from the ground, in full view, but too far away to recognize. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a dark vest and pants, and was in his shirtsleeves. With a few words, which fell like a murmur on our ears, he went to the fence, jumped it, and walked down towards Maxwell's house.  Little as we then suspected it, this man was the Kid. We learned, subsequently, that, when he left his companions that night, he went to the house of a Mexican friend, pulled off his hat and boots, threw himself on a bed, and commenced reading a newspaper. He soon, however, hailed his friend, who was sleeping in the room, told him to get up and make some coffee, adding: 'Give me a butcher knife and I will go over to Pete's and get some beef; I'm hungry.' The Mexican arose, handed him the knife, and the Kid, hatless and in his stocking-feet, started to Maxwell's, which was but a few steps distant.

When the Kid, by me unrecognized, left the orchard, I motioned to my companions, and we cautiously retreated a short distance, and, to avoid the persons whom we had heard at the houses, took another route, approaching Maxwell's house from the opposite direction. When we reached the porch in front of the building, I left Poe and McKinney at the end of the porch, about twenty feet from the door of Pete's room, and went in. It was near midnight and Pete was in bed. I walked to the head of the bed and sat down on it, beside him, near the pillow. I asked him as to the whereabouts of the Kid. He said that the Kid had certainly been about, but he did not know whether he had left or not. At that moment a man sprang quickly into the door, looking back, and called twice in Spanish, 'Who comes there?' No one replied and he came on in. He was bareheaded. From his step I could perceive he was either barefooted or in his stocking-feet, and held a revolver in his right hand and a butcher knife in his left.

The death of Billy the Kid
From a contemporary illustration

He came directly towards me. Before he reached the bed, I whispered: 'Who is it, Pete?' but received no reply for a moment. It struck me that it might be Pete's brother-in-law, Manuel Abreu, who had seen Poe and McKinney, and wanted to know their business. The intruder came close to me, leaned both hands on the bed, his right hand almost touching my knee, and asked, in a low tone: -'Who are they Pete?' -at the same instant Maxwell whispered to me. 'That's him!' Simultaneously the Kid must have seen, or felt, the presence of a third person at the head of the bed. He raised quickly his pistol, a self-cocker, within a foot of my breast. Retreating rapidly across the room he cried: 'Quien es? Quien es?' 'Who's that? Who's that?') All this occurred in a moment. Quickly as possible I drew my revolver and fired, threw my body aside, and fired again. The second shot was useless; the Kid fell dead. He never spoke. A struggle or two, a little strangling sound as he gasped for breath, and the Kid was with his many victims."

References:
Garrett, Pat, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid (1882, republished 1954); Utley, Robert, Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life (1989).
*"The Death Of Billy The Kid, 1881," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001).

Billy the Kid has featured in several books that we've published including as a ghost!

Gunsmith #8

THE GHOST OF BILLY THE KID


The local gold rush is over. The threat of bandits is next to nada. And by the time Clint Adams rides through it, the pint-sized town of White Oaks is ready to settle back to normal, except for a bitter dispute between two storekeepers. But then folks begin spotting Billy the Kid around town. Problem is, the Kid's been dead several years! Normally, Adams can smell a hoax from a mile away. But, one he's taken on as a hired gun by a storekeeper, the Gunsmith spots Billy the Kid and would swear on a stack of bibles that the menace has come back to haunt him. Little does he know, though, that this phantom has a message for him - that, without the right friends in this town, the Gunsmith ain't got a ghost of a chance!


Published July 01, 2015 Recommended Price: $2.99 / £2.05


BILLY THE KID

 

Jedediah Herne only wanted to play checkers but a fool-hardy youth wanted to draw him into a gunfight. The kid didn’t know he was facing Herne the Hunter. For Herne, it brought back memories of another time; another kid … New Mexico Territory 1878: The murder of local rancher John Tunstall lit the fuse for a bloody conflict that will be forever known as The Lincoln County War. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder is a legend and one in the making—Herne the Hunter and Billy the Kid. Luckily they are on the same side. Not so for the opposition. Herne hires out his Colt .45 to the Tunstall/McSween supporters against the Dolan/Murphy faction and thus The Regulators are born. The Kid’s gunning down of Lincoln County Sheriff Brady changed the playing field. Soon Herne and the Kid are pitched against lawmen and desperately fighting for their lives. A fast-paced adventure featuring notable figures of the Old West, including Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Chisum, Alexander McSween, Dick Brewer, Lawrence Murphy and the most famous of them all—Billy the Kid.
 
Published October 01, 2015- Recommended Price: $1.99/ £1.80
 
John Harvey's ten book series, HART THE REGULATOR has the main character of Wes Hart an ex-soldier, ex-Texas Ranger, ex-rider with Billy the Kid. He's tough, ruthless, and slick with a .45.
 

 
 
Or if you want to delve more in the "factual" side of the Kid's history, there is no better place to start than our very own Frederick Nolan's - or to you, Frederick H. Christian - terrific book, THE WEST OF BILLY THE KID.
 


Happy reading!



Monday 5 June 2017

On This Day in History 1878 ...

June 5th




Pancho Villa was Born Doroteo Arango on June 5, 1878, in Río Grande, Mexico. Villa helped out on his parents’ farm. After his father’s death, he became head of the household and shot a man who was harassing one of his sisters. He fled, but was caught and imprisoned. Villa escaped again and later became a bandit.

While living as a fugitive, Villa joined Francisco Madero’s successful uprising against the Mexican dictator, Porfirio Díaz. Because of his skills as a fighter and a leader he was made a colonel. Another rebellion removed Madero from power in 1912 and Villa was almost executed for his efforts to defend the former government. He fled to the United States for a time, but he later returned to Mexico and formed his own military force known as Division del Norte (Division of the North).

He joined forces with other revolutionaries Venustiano Carranza and Emiliano Zapata to overthrow Victoriano Huerta. The different forces were not wholly successful at working together, and Villa and Carranza became rivals. For a number of years, he was involved in a series of clashes with other Mexican military groups and even fought with U.S. troops from 1916 to 1917. In 1920, Villa reached an agreement with Adolfo de la Huerta, the Mexican leader, which pardoned him for his actions in return for Villa putting an end to his independent military activities. Three years later, he was assassinated on June 20, 1923.

In the FARGO series written by John Benteen, number 18: KILLER'S MOON the storyline features Pancho Villa.



Fargo was running Springfield rifles across the border to Pancho Villa. That meant he had to dodge the U.S. Army, the Texas Rangers, and the Mexican regulars. But for the kind of money he was getting, it was worth it. Then he got mixed up with two American sisters—Rose and Lola. Rose was a nice girl, Lola was wild and mean—and you can guess which one Fargo liked better. Especially when she was holding half a million dollars in stolen money!

Published June 01 2017
Recommended Price: $1.99/ £1.49


Buy from AMAZON.com

Buy from AMAZON.co.uk

or from SMASHWORDS



Wednesday 17 May 2017

On This Day in History ... 1853

May 17


 
The site of Fort Riley was chosen by surveyors in the fall of 1852 and was first called Camp Center, due to its proximity to the geographical center of the United States. The following spring, three companies of the 6th infantry began the construction of temporary quarters at the camp.

Fort Riley was established by Captain Charles S. Lovell, 6th U.S. Infantry, on a site recommended by Colonel Thomas T. Flauntleroy, 1st U. S. Dragoons.

The fort's initial purpose was to protect the many pioneers and traders who were moving along the Oregon-California and Santa Fe Trails.
 
In the years after the Civil War, Fort Riley served as a major United States Cavalry post and school for cavalry tactics and practice. The post was a base for skirmishes with Native Americans after the Civil War ended in 1865, during which time George Custer was stationed at the fort.

THE DRAGOONS by PATRICK E. ANDREWS



This series consists of four novels of the early U.S. Cavalry and features the adventures, trials and tribulations of the brave men of the U.S. Dragoons. In a land as savage as the Indians who lived on its vast prairies and burning deserts, the U.S. Dragoons were the only law. Short on rations but long on courage, they were the first cavalry soldiers to ride the great western frontier and fight to keep the peace.

The cover art is by Don Stiver who was was an American artist, known for his portrayal of historical and military subjects.

Check out the page

Saturday 13 May 2017

On This Day in History .... 1870

1870, May 13

Colorado Territory- around 9 a.m. an Indian attack on a Kansas Pacific Railroad crew near the town of Kit Carson kills eleven and wounds nineteen 500 head of livestock are driven away.

Patrick E. Andrews' COLORADO CROSSFIRE, Number 15 in the Piccadilly Publishing Western series is an exciting story that tells of a vicious robbery, if there ever was one. A bunch of scummy gunsels had ambushed a Northwest and Canadian Railroad car, and left a pile of bodies in their wake. Detective Jim Bigelow figured it had to be Milo Paxton’s Gang; no other pack of pistoleros was so downright mean – or so dang slippery-footed. The Pinkerton man needed a pair of crack frontiersmen to capture the outlaws – or kill ’em – and bring back the loot. So he hired two hell-raisin’ whippersnappers names of Lefty McNally and the Kiowa Kid ...
Lefty was a U.S. cavalryman’s son and the Kid was half-injun, yet they were closer than natural brothers. Together, they’d set out to find adventure. But hunting down twelve of the meanest men in the west not only put Lefty and the Kid on the deadly trail of hidden treasure, but plunged them into a six-gun war that’d leave gunsmoke and splattered blood on every one-horse town and mining camp from Kansas clear to Colorado!

 


Friday 12 May 2017

On This Day in History ... 1832

1832, May 12

The fur trader William Sublette departed for a rendezvous scheduled to occur that summer at Pierre’s Hole, a valley in the Grand Teton Mountains. Sublette arrived at the rendezvous point in June and he successfully traded his supplies for furs and enjoyed a reunion with his brother Milton. As the rendezvous broke up on July 17, Sublette’s brother left, leading a party of trappers toward the Snake River. They had gone seven miles when they encountered a band of Gros Ventres Indians. Foolishly, one of the trappers shot a Gros Ventres chief, and a battle erupted.

Alerted by a messenger, Sublette and about 200 other trappers soon arrived and joined the battle. Recognizing that the trappers outnumbered the Gros Ventres by about seven to one, Sublette decided the mountain men should attack. The Gros Ventres, however, were well entrenched and were tenacious fighters. By nightfall, they had killed 32 of the trappers and lost 26 of their own men. Sublette was wounded, though not seriously, and during the night, he and the other surviving trappers retreated. When they returned the next day, the Gros Ventres were gone.

If you like this particular era in the Old West, why not try the Wilderness (book series) is the generational saga of a mountain man and his Shoshone wife by American author David Robbins. The series has run for twenty years, making it one of the longest contemporary series written by a single author. We publish both Giant editions and our own Double Editions.
 

 

Monday 8 May 2017

Celebrating our Fifth Birthday

It all began on 9th May 2012 when Bodie 1: Trackdown by Neil Hunter was published and thus launched Piccadilly Publishing. Now, five years down the line, we have published over 250 books. We greatly appreciate all your support over the years. So, raise a shot of whiskey and help us toast this landmark. Here's to the next five years!
 

The book still gets reviews on Amazon such as this FIVE STAR rated latest:

By Jo Walpole on 12 Jan. 2017
        
I was looking for a hard hitting western and I found one. If you want a sanitised version of the Old West, this one won't be for you. If you're looking for a man's man who pulls no punches and makes no apology, buy it now and enjoy.

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Belated Happy Birthday - Calamity Jane


Martha Jane Canary or Cannary, better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman and professional scout, known for her claims of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok and fighting against Native Americans. She was born on May 01, 1852 in Princeton, Missouri.


To mark what would have been her next birthday on May 01, 2018 we will be publishing the J.T. Edson's series featuring the lady herself.  Covers are by the indomitable, Tony Masero.