During the postwar 1940s, Canadian pulp fiction writer Thomas P. Kelley was contracted to write a handful of westerns for the English publishing market operated by Pemberton’s (of Manchester) Ltd. One of those westerns is Riders of the Badlands. This title had at least 2 known printings: August 1946 and October 1946. The cover art would have remained the same for both editions, and it is uncredited.
The inside front cover is wasted space, advertising the very same book we are discussing. The rear cover advertises Gunsmoke on the Plains by Zed Kelly (unseen by me). The inside rear cover advertises Jesse James, The Outlaw by Thomas P. Monahon, however, this title has never been sighted and it is possible that it was reworked and released in 1950 by Canada’s own Export Publishing simply as Jesse James by Thomas P. Kelley.
Unlike some of his other westerns, this one has a slightly improved plot and stronger characters, but still heavily focuses on Kelley’s ability to drag out a plot and keep the action tremendously padded for several pages longer than necessary. That doesn’t mean the book is a droll work. It’s definitely worth the read, especially if you have read (and enjoyed) any of his fantasy works from Weird Tales magazine or other publications.
The 128-page (pages 3-130) novel opens immediately to quick-action, with our hero (Len Coldwell) riding the open prairie in search of a job (he’s a cowpuncher) when he hears shots fired. Extracting his field glasses, he watches a rider captured and driven away with them those that rode him down. Not the least bit interested towards interfering in the local business of Hell’s Wilderness, Len rides on and hours later comes upon a creek to rest his horse and relax.
In typical Kelley fashion, he immediately injects some of his fantasy-writing experience by suggesting that Coldwell might possess some “mysterious telepathic” ability that warns him of impending danger. Sure enough, a pair of eyes and a dark hole of a gun are pointed at him from the foliage. He swiftly hurls his body over the creek’s embankment and shots are fired; Coldwell returns fire in kind; waits…takes a peek, and realizes the lead-leveling hombre has departed. A horse-borne rider tears up the countryside. Coldwell is nonplussed to discover his assailant was a lovely young lady. However, Kelley has our hero regret his decision to recklessly fling his hardware’s body-chillers at the figure in the bush. Wait, didn’t she shoot first? Who wouldn‘t return fire?!?!?
Two “toughs” ride up and accost him, demanding to know why he is there. It’s not long before they reach to slap leather and blow Coldwell’s soul into the next level: Heaven or Hell.
Predicting his death written on their countenances, Coldwell moves swiftly and draws his own heater and snaps shots at the more deadly of the pair. Coldwell has him nicknamed Death-face and that unworthy latter drops from the saddle. The other is having problems controlling his horse, so Coldwell nabs Death-face and tells him to order the other (Chunk) to drop the six-shooter. Chunk and Death-face at his mercy, he demands explanations.
They claim that there has been local rustling activity afoot and Coldwell proclaims he is new to the territory. He forces them to examine his horse’s hoofprints, and they are convinced he is not the hombre they are looking for. Admittedly, Coldwell is certain they are full of themselves and keeps the information regarding the girl to himself. After all, they claim to not have heard them exchange gunfire. That seems implausible to him. To add further menace, another hombre drifts into the picture. Coldwell asks the pair about the approaching man, and they state he is Norman Rennerd, owner of another nearby ranch, not associated with the ranch they are working, known as the Circle V Up and Down.
Rennerd likewise demands to know who Coldwell is, and he takes to bristling at the insinuations. He rapidly clears the air and forces the pair at his mercy to speak up. Once all is clear, he hands back the pair’s six-shooters, but only after unloading the cartridges. They ride away, and eventually Coldwell saddles up and continues his ride, too. It’s not long before he spies a ranch in the distance. Deciding to look for a job there, he rides in…
…only to discover that Death-face and Chunk along with more hombres are already there, waiting. Looks like they anticipated his arrival and look none too friendly to see him ride up. Coldwell realizes he must have stumbled across the Circle V Up and Down ranch. Asking to the see the ranch-boss, he’s informed that “ol’ man Ernie Rae” is away on business. While in talks, he spots the same girl that shot at him in his peripheral vision silently beckoning at him. He keeps up his aimless banter with the bunch and then states that he intends to ride on. All the while, the girl has been running towards the ranch-house and makes it inside.
Launching himself aboard his horse, he rides past the ranch-house then quickly changes direction and dismounts, steps up the porch. The hombres are quickly angered by the sudden change in intentions and head towards him. Coldwell raps on the door and it opens, to reveal “the girl, clad in riding costume. She was pretty. Somehow he had known that she would be. Her hair was a mystic brown, shading to deep copper. She smiled just a little…” and saw “…a set of perfectly matched white teeth, and two of the cutest dimples he had ever laid eyes on.”
What in hell kind of hair is “mystic” ??? Never mind. I don’t want to know. (Yes, I do!)
This is Page 21. For about the next 40 pages, the pair are trapped inside the house and waging gun-warfare against 4 men bent on murder. They are convinced that he is a ranger in disguise and must be rubbed out. And the girl now knows too much. Coldwell seriously wounds one assailant, and by the time about 30+ pages expire, he’s brutally beaten and battered himself, when one skunk sneaks in the kitchen. They bang all about in total nighttime darkness and eventually Coldwell lucks into killing the man. Sickened at the gory mess, Coldwell has a hard time coming to grips dealing with the fact he has killed his first man. One down, one mortally wounded, and two remaining, by light Coldwell and the girl (Eda) hear shots fired, then the evil pair mount and ride rapidly away.
Fearing some form of trick, Coldwell sneaks out with Eda providing cover-fire with her rifle. No shots ring out. He makes it to the bunkhouse and popping inside, is startled to find Eda at his side, instead of maintaining her safety. They work their way inside and find the mortally-wounded man shot twice by his compadres, dead. Not so fast! He’s not dead! Coldwell manages to get the man to speak and confess where Eda’s father is held captive, etc.
Realizing they need additional help to raid the mountain-side retreat, the pair ride to Norman Rennerd’s ranch. Coldwell is jealous of the strapping man and understands why Eda might well want to marry this wealthy man, but they need the extra hardware. Explaining their presence and what transpired at her ranch, Rennerd swears total allegiance and leaving them to a much-needed meal at his place, he heads to get his top-hand in the barn.
Coldwell wonders many minutes later what became of Rennerd. Smelling a rat, he informs Eda that Rennerd might be a skunk. They go to investigate and are halfway across the yard when Rennerd hollers from the barn that his man is down and he needs their help. Running in, Coldwell is smacked over the head.
It was a trap! Duh…
When he comes to, he discovers that he is captured, as is Eda and Rennerd. Turns out Rennerd’s top-hand is in league with the surviving two scoundrels, and they had actually ridden to Rennerd’s ranch to enlist that man in their evil deeds.
The trio are roped and helped aboard horses, and led to the villain’s mountain retreat, where Eda’s missing father is held. Realizing their lives are about to be aborted, Coldwell uses his spurs to slice through the ropes and saddle’s cinch, then throws himself off a cliff…rolls and spins and smashes downhill, smashing through scrub, bouncing off rocks and stones and basically knocks himself delirious.
Long story short, in case anyone is still reading this, Coldwell escapes, Eda and Rennerd are taken onward to the final destination. Two others are left behind to find Coldwell, but they fail and spot some other guy in the wilderness. They ride up, see this other guy in the darkness, and empty their hardware at him. He stumbles over the cliff and falls far down to the pool of water below. His body does not surface. Downstream, Coldwell, having witnessed the deed, extracts the bullet-riddled body and discovers the man is a ranger. Taking the man’s “star” and finding his horse and gear, Coldwell is a new man with a rifle in hand and sets to storm the fortress.
Convinced they have murdered Coldwell, they later discover otherwise, when a mysterious extra person rides up. Turns out this extra is an unscrupulous member of the local law, who murdered the ranger! He describes the man and the creeps are certain that maybe they did kill Coldwell and that the ranger is still alive. I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion, given they know Coldwell didn’t have a gun, and yet the man they gunned down returned fire with a six-shooter. (Kelley clearly made a mistake here, unless he is inferring those that thought they killed Coldwell were trying to cover up their mistake with the big boss).
Not surprising, we eventually discover that Rennerd is the mysterious boss. I won’t divulge how all that came about, but Kelley went to great pains to disguise this; in fact, he could have gone either way with Rennerd by this point. Coldwell is captured, and bizarrely, some mysterious grizzled old man threatens to kill him then returns and cuts him loose. Coldwell is convinced this is Eda’s dad in disguise. The trio escape, and discover he is not her father. He’s been long dead. So, who is this guy? We never know.
They escape, go to the sheriff, explain the story, Coldwell gets the girl, and the sheriff gets the old guy as his deputy.
A very strange ending, not-neatly wrapped up. The conclusion felt very rushed after having been heavily padded with all sorts of blood-and-thunder action.