3. The Renegade

Possibly inspired by 19th Century mercenary William Walker, the Renegade AKA Captain Gringo AKA Richard (Dick) Walker, raises hell in Latin America over the course of 36 novels. Writing as “Ramsay Thorne,” prolific pulp prose-peddler Lou Cameron undoubtedly had loads of fun (and passed it on to us) writing a character used to “winning in battles and bedrooms!”

I’m delighted to discover that these are being released as E-books now, under Cameron’s own name. I only bought a few of the paperbacks while they were in print (wasn’t on a historical kick at the time), but now I should be able to read the whole series.

Captain Gringo is a definite alpha dog. In a setting rife with treachery, teeming with tyrants, revolutionaries, and German agents, the only man of integrity to be found is the lecherous Frenchman Gaston, his loyal sidekick. The Renegade seduces more women in each novel than some men will in their entire life (women who shout lines like “Oh Deek, my great bull!” during the throes of passion), and Gaston feeds on his scraps without complaint.

In his tactics and instincts, Captain Gringo is seemingly flawless as written. But there’s more than enough wild cards thrown at him to keep the pages turning…and the rounds feeding through his Maxim machinegun.