Hawk Books In Order

Publication Order of Hawk Books

The Hawk series brings you a total of 15 western-style books authored under the name of William S. Brady. The author name is a pen name for authors John Harvey and Angus Wells. The duo was part of a group that came to be known as The Piccadilly Cowboys that included Ken Bulmer, Fred Nolan, Mike Linaker and Lawrence James. The Hawk series of books revolves around Jared Hawk, a no nonsense cowboy. The first of the series, The Sudden Guns, made its way to book shelves in 1979 with the last one, Killer!, making its debut in 1983.

Under the pen name, William S. Brady, both John Harvey and Wells Angus have also created the Peace Maker series. However, both the Hawk and Peace Maker series do not only share authors, they also share a character, John T. McLain. Hawk is the first series that mentions McLain as the man who teaches Jared Hawk how to handle weapons in several instances. There were some rumors that both heroes would one day come together and star in a book, but that is yet to happen since English publishers have ceased the publication of western books.

Jared Hawk is a gun for hire who knows the only to solve problems is using his .45 caliber lead slug. He is not only heartless and cold, but will use just as much cruelty as those he will be hunting. He does this through savage violence served in gory detail. The book series offers short flashback sequences that explain what makes Hawk tick and what made him be the way he is. For example, in the Widowmaker – Hawk number nine, there is a flashback that explains why Hawk has a preference to wear a black glove on the left hand.

Like many Western heroes, Jared Hawk carries a cut-down meteor single barrel shotgun in a customized belt holster. The gun does have devastating effect on those he uses it on. As a gunfighter, his services went to the highest bidder and he lived by the simple code of staying alive as long as possible to deliver and collect his dues; without letting no men stand in his way. However, there is more to this gun slinging hero than meets the eye, and as the series develops you get a deeper insight into his true character.

The Sudden Guns – Hawk Number One (1979)

Philip Garret hires Jared Hawk to take both him and his niece, Sarah, to Los Angeles, California. However, what seems to be such a simple escort job becomes more complicated as Jared finds himself battling through people committed to ensuring that Philip and his niece never complete the journey. This first series in the series begins with Hawk giving two wanted men the opportunity to surrender, but they choose to be dead. The following scene opens up more of Hawk’s character.

Sudden Guns is a story that also introduces part of Hawk’s history. On one hand, Hawk is displayed as a kid who grew up under an abusive father and managed to fight back, but not before doing damage to his left hand. Hawk soon gets his revenge. The other flashback relates to Hawk’s first encounter with John T. McLain and the shotgun.

Blood Money – Hawk Number Two (1979)

Jared Hawk sets out to help Aaron Turner, a black gunman for a few dollars, but everything changes when he finds himself smirk in the middle of a war. Even more thrilling is that the situation gets complicated when Hawk has to face off with Turner. In the end, all that is true is Hawks code, kill first and ask the questions later.

The Widowmaker – Hawk Number Nine (1981)

This is the ninth installation of the Hawk series where the Willard brothers kidnapped Ben King’s wife. King is rich and can afford to hire Jared Hawk to find and bring back his wife, as well as kill the men involved in the kidnapping. In the process, Hawk learns a disconcerting truth about the kidnapping and decides it is time to take matters into his own hands with a shockingly bloody end.

During the 70’s and early 80’s, when British bookshops had a section for Westerns, the Piccadilly Cowboys were known for filling the shelves. Born in London in 1938, John Harvey was once an English and Drama teacher in various secondary schools before resigning to concentrate on full writing in 1975. With over 100 books to his name, he is still creating books that appeal to both teenagers and adults. He now predominantly writes crime fiction books.

On the other hand, Angus Wells (1943 to 2006) was a British writer who concentrated mostly on Westerns and fantasy works. Angus was a superb writer who brought in the visuals to the story. He was best known for his brutal scenes that he brought to the Hawk series. He ensured he kept his audience captivated with his breath-taking masterpiece, original in creation and carefully delivered.

This 15-book western series is a riveting read that will leave you with something once you are done with each one. The reader will want to delve deeper and know more about the main character, Hawk, and the writers do not disappoint. The few glimpses into the making of the man Jared Hawk give readers the sense of a continuing background story that covers some of the questions he or she would have been left with from the book before.

With intricate and brutally clear violent action scenes, the reader can almost see it through Angus Wells’ eyes. The covers for the first 13 books in the series were done by Robert Adams, also known as Mike Adams. This was before he was commissioned by Sphere to do Angus Wells’ Breed Western series covers. In Hawk 7 – Gates of Death Angus Wells writes a dedication to Robert Adams as a “better man to front him.” Although there are no longer any western classification books from British publishers, the Hawk series is a set of books that kept readers fascinated by the western culture and also played a major role in the history of book writing in Britain.