Victor J. Banis: Longhorns

October 7, 2007

Longhorns by Victor J. Banis
From: Carroll & Graf

“Hoo-ee,” Buck shouted, walking over to them, and grinning from ear to ear like he hadn’t a few minutes before been no more than a heartbeat or two away from ending his days. “That was some excitement, wasn’t it? Sure got the blood all stirred up, I will say.” He reached behind him and rubbed his hands heartily up and down over his butt. “I swear, it makes me want a good ridin’ myself, to take the edge off, if someone was of a mind.” He cast an unmistakable glance at the bulge of Les’s crotch. To Les’s embarrassment, the boys standing nearby saw it all as well, and whooped with laughter, too keyed up from the stampede, and too impressed with what the boy had done, to take any offense.

Red clapped a big hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Say,” he said, a wide grin on his homely face, “Why don’t you and me go put them horses away, and we can take care of them saddles while we are at it?”

“I’m your man,” Buck said. “I reckon my saddle could sure use a little taking care of right now, the way it is tingling.” He returned Red’s grin, and started away with him, but he looked back to wink at Les, which produced another round of guffaws.

One or two of the cowboys looked after the departing pair wistfully. It was kind of hard not to take notice of Buck’s round little butt, the way he strutted and the way them dungarees of his fit like a second skin, and they had all of them been out here on the prairie for several weeks now, and there weren’t many that did not think a butt looked prettier to them now than it might have when they set out.

Les had been herding most of his life and he was no fool. He knew that sometimes on the trail, one or the other of the men would slip away to somebody else’s bedroll for a spell. Everyone just pretended they didn’t notice anything or hear the noises that followed. You never could tell: it might be you feeling the need real bad the next night. Truth was, once or twice Les had almost wished someone might have creeped over to his bedroll, but they never had, him being the boss and all. Almost wished, but not quite. That just plain wasn’t his style.

He never paid much attention to that shit when it happened though, and he had never attached any importance to it, either. He figured that was just a matter of hot nuts, and what was available, which was pretty limited out on the range. This new guy, though, was something different. Les was beginning to think the boy was a real sternwheeler.

He suddenly realized that his eyes too had strayed to Buck’s curvy little bottom. He had a fleeting notion that he wouldn’t have much minded taking the edge off his own pent-up energy.

He turned away in disgust and thrust that thought determinedly from his mind. Shit, he told himself, next thing you know I’ll be taking him serious, all them damn fool remarks of his.

The little fucker sure could ride, though.

One day while working the roundup Les, a 40 year old trail boss of the Double H Ranch, and his friend Red watch a young drifter, Buck, ride up. The cowboys have no clue how much their lives are about to change.

I just got through reading the Publisher’s Weekly review of this book. Nice to know their reviews are about as useless as Romantic Times when making Gay Romance buying decisions.

When reading Victor J. Banis keep in mind that he came from a pulpier style of writing during those bad hair days of the 60’s. I would pay him about the same respects I would give say a Zane Grey for founding the type of Gay Erotic Romance you read these days. Since his were some of the first books you could buy way back when. I don’t go that far back but I admit I was reading Victor’s books along with James Barr, Gordon Merrick and Patricia Nell Warren when I was in high school.

I was surprised to see this one sitting on the shelf over at A Different Light here in San Francisco. I thought maybe they had started re-publishing his older works, which they have, but this was actually written fairly recently.

I love it! We are not talking Brokeback Mountain here, this is more along the lines of say a Gunsmoke or Big Valley serialized western. More rough and tumble, stoic type cowboys with less “Chris Owen” soap going on and more sweat and blood. Which is always a bit more of a realistic approach since I for one do not think cowboys saw a lot of soap or spent much time emoting for that matter.

So Buck is the young whipper snapper hot after some ranch boss ass in this story and he makes his lewd highly suggestive intentions pretty dang clear to the old cowboy early on. The constant remarks and innuendos do not let up and more than one scene has them playing verbal tennis with each other over when and where Les will finally give in and give Buck the ride he is gunning for. I can see that this might get a bit tiresome for some readers but that constant banter is the whole point. Buck is wearing down our stoic Les and working on getting himself into the mans bed roll one way or another.

Now Les does not take kindly to all this unwanted attention and they do come to blows over it all eventually. But that’s just real, and no one ever said real cowboy love is pretty. It’s not like they have douche kits and handi-wipes out there.

Anyway, after the week that was I just had to let you guys know about this one. Well worth the read and this might end up on your keeper shelf without too much effort on it’s part.

It’s a cute story even if the sex scenes are not perfect, much like Victor’s stories he wrote in the 60’s. Hey, you cannot always teach an old dog new tricks especially when they were more likely to edit him back then for getting too descriptive and all.

But… this old dog sure knows how to write a burly cowboy that just might give another cowboy a kiss and a whole lot more eventually in a heart warming yet very masculine way right after beating his brains out and leaving him there bleeding in the dirt, hell, he probably does not smell all that purty if you get too close either but that’s just real cowboy love again.

I’m giving Victor a solid B and hoping he writes another real quick like. Zane Grey spewed out something like 90 Pulp Westerns in his lifetime and even Publisher’s Weekly knows to shut their trap about them so I figure another 20 books about gay cowboys and Victor will be golden and by then he might actually get the sex cooking at the right temperature.