THE SAMARITAN'S PISTOL by Eric Bishop: BLOG TOUR

 

 

Today we welcome fellow author, Eric Bishop, to our blog to talk about his exciting new book, THE SAMARITAN'S PISTOL.  Filled with action and suspense, this Rocky Mountain Thriller is also full of characters you can't get out of your head. 

 

Thanks, Eric, for visiting and sharing your thoughts with us:

 

"How the role of cowboy has changed in novels or movies over the years, culminating in "The Samaritan's Pistol."

 

           Western Writers of America Membership Chair, Rod Miller, asked me once, "Why do people want to write about another planet? There's plenty of strange stuff right here!"

            Rod’s a very good writer, better than I’ll ever be. I agreed with him at the time and still do, but not totally. Some elements of Star Trek and Star Wars hold my attention. Not all western writers will make the admission, but I think most like watching Captain Kirk and Han Solo cowboy across the stars. There are too many similarities between the genres. Trade the Millennium Falcon for a temperamental but Kentucky Derby fast horse, the blaster for a six-shooter, an Apache wingman named Tonto for a wookie and let the fun begin.   

            The cowboy rides into a new town and adventure waits. He walks into the bar full of seedy, threatening characters. The town’s tough guy, crooked sheriff, or Pinkerton Detective lurks in the shadows, ready to fight. Remember Han Solo blasting Jabba the Hut’s debt collector in the Mos Eisley cantina? As for Mr. Hut, is he that much different than a wealthy cattle baron?    

            Westerns have suffered in the bookstore and box office. Compared to their science fiction counterparts there just aren’t many movies being made or stories finding their way to best seller lists. For the genre to regain some luster it needs to keep the familiar while borrowing the appeal of other genres. 

            I grew up on Louis L’amour, but eventually tired of the formulaic writing. My reading interests drifted toward Thrillers, Crime, Adventure and Mystery.  Somewhere along the way, I wondered why some of my favorite books couldn’t happen on a ranch or in the mountains. 

            Star Wars and Star Trek aren’t westerns in space. They are science fiction franchises, dripping with success. A cash cow for Hollywood, but they borrowed the western persona. The rugged, damn the torpedoes individualistic and reckless Han Solo and Captain Kirk got beamed into starring roles, riding hyperdrive fast carriages across the galaxy. The industry was smart. Why limit cowboys to roles near a corral, mountains or saloon?  

            My debut novel, The Samaritan’s Pistol, attempts this in reverse. The opening chapter takes pinky ringed mobsters and plops them in a cowboy’s back yard to fight with each other in a predominantly Mormon community. Call it a new age western, an effort to bring the tension of thriller, crime, mystery and suspense to wide open spaces.

            For now, the aliens remain galaxies away some place near the Mos Eisley Cantina.  

             Rod Miller gave me an enthusiastic blurb for the back cover. Perhaps The Samaritan’s Pistol hits the right mixture of “strange stuff.”

 

Eric Bishop  

 

Thanks, Eric!

 

Hey!  If you'd like to know what we think of this great reinvention of the western novel, see our review HERE.

Want to know more about this great book?

 

 “Pull a trigger, save a life.” 

When faced with a perilous choice, Desert Storm veteran Jim Cooper makes this decision without hesitation—but not without consequence. His small-town life is hurled inside-out as he finds himself in the midst of four criminals—three of them dead by Jim’s own bullets and one wounded, willing to offer a large reward in exchange for help. 

Faced with the challenge of balancing his kind heart with a desire to protect his own life, Jim finds himself on a trip to retrieve a truckload of stolen Mafia cash near the Las Vegas strip, never more than a few minutes away from mobsters who’d like nothing more than to see him dead. Even if Jim and his partner-in-crime escape with the money, will his conservative neighbors provide sanctuary for their local Samaritan? Will he live in fear of Mafia revenge for the rest of his life?

 

Released August 24th, The Samaritan’s Pistol is set to reinvent the Western-based genre, weaving a classic tale that is reminiscent of writing-greats Dean Koontz, Mark Twain, and Louis L'Amour. Bishop’s powerful prose is reflected by his rugged characters, and yet, Bishop’s characters, just like his writing, possess a soft, human side that will leave readers tantalized. With a fast-paced plot full of mobsters and cowboys, this novel is poised to resonate with fans of every genre and influence and put the Western U.S. back on the fictional map.

 

ERIC BISHOP is known to his friends and family as an “author version of Clint Eastwood.” As the owner of a successful financial firm, Bishop spends most of his time on his Utah ranch writing with the music of his adolescence bouncing off the walls. When he's not writing, Bishop enjoys spending time with his wife and four lovely daughters at his home in Nibley, Utah. Unlike Jim, Bishop hasn't had any run-ins with the Mafia. Yet.

 

Find Eric Bishop at: 

Blog:  www.eric-bishop.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ericbishopauthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/EricBishopWords