H. A. DeRosso - photo found

Found a photo of H. A. De Rosso in the August, 1953 issue of Gunsmoke magazine and updated the article on him. Enjoy.

H.A. DeRosso - new ebooks - 2 novels and 1 short story collection

AmazonEncore has reissued three H.A. DeRosso books in ebook format:

	A dark, psychological Western, .44 merges the brooding sensibility of noir with the stark, iconic desert landscapes that symbolically leave the characters exposed and vulnerable to the harsh high noon sun, but also those parts of themselves that they’d rather not give in to. DeRosso’s writing is stark and hard-hitting, devoid of excessive flourishes yet finely attuned to the inner-lives of his characters – and we can’t forget the suspenseful shootouts. When its lean but dynamic 159 pages are over, you can’t help but admit that .44 is one hell of a good Western.   From: http://www.pulpserenade.com/2009/06/44-by-ha-derosso-lion-books-1953.html   Another review at: http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/44-h-a-derosso/
	Contents:   Foreword by Bill Pronzini The Bounty Hunter Vigilante Long Lonesome Hold-up Whitewater Challenge The Hired Man The Last Sleep Man-killer! My Brother: Killer Fair Game The Mesteños Those Bloody Bells of Hell!   Review:   Under the Burning Sun is more than a collection of western stories. It is a sample of how good the genre story can be. The violence—and there is some—is realistic and vivid. It is examined with a neutrality that allows the reader to see its affects on the characters and story. The “shadowlands” tales—“The Bounty Hunter” and “Those Bloody Bells of Hell!”—are brilliant.   http://gravetapping.blogspot.com/2009/12/under-burning-sun-by-ha-derosso.html
	Review:   The hero, Dave Driscoll, is in jail for rustling, but the fellow in the next cell has it even worse. He’s going to be hanged the next morning for killing a bank teller during a robbery. This doomed hombre is a hardscrabble rancher with a wife, a son, and a failing spread who became a bank robber to help his family. Because of that, he’s hidden the money he got away with and refuses to tell anyone where it is, including the brutal sheriff who wants the loot for himself.   However, when Driscoll gets out of prison three years later and returns to the same town, he finds that a lot of people believe the condemned man told him where the money was hidden, and now there are various factions who want to force him to lead them to the loot by any means necessary, including torture. Driscoll really doesn’t know where the money is, but he wants to find it to help the hanged man’s wife and son.   From: http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2008/06/fridays-forgotten-book-dark-brand-ha-de.html

The burning sky - novella by H. A. DeRosso

This novella by H.A. DeRosso is about a marshall who comes to town to retrieve stolen gold. With an unusual happy ending, perhaps because that is what a slick like Collier's wanted.

Download the story here.

H. A. DeRosso - Western Noir pulp author

[A tip of the Stetson to James Reasoner of Rough Edges for pointing out this excellent forgotten writer who doesn’t have a Wikipedia article. I have only read a few stories of his so far, of which one is a short story from Ranch Romances, but even there the dark, noirish tone of the story stands out. Almost like Cornell Woolrich in the feeling of despair that he’s able to evoke. I’ll be posting that short story this week and keeping an eye open for more stories from him.

I wasn’t able to find a photo of him. If anyone has one, maybe one from a book cover, please post a link in the comments section.  Finally found an image of him from the August, 1953 issue of Gunsmoke magazine. More after the break.]

Author H. A. DeRosso (1917-1960)
Image from Gunsmoke magazine, August 1953