From Publishers Weekly
Cowboy drifters Josh Carson and Tiny Hamilton shoot up nearly everything in sight in this wild hayburner from prolific western writer Conwell. These two saddle bums wander into the town of Atascocita where they immediately get into trouble with local gunsels over a poker game. Saved from tar and feathers by the sheriff and an old couple who run a wagon freight outfit, Josh and Tiny find themselves in the middle of a range war with murderous tycoon Cullen Leach. On a freight hauling job, Josh and Tiny befriend a pretty young woman, Marylee Gaston, heir to a large ranch and guardian of two younger brothers after her older brothers are murdered by Leach's men. Rumors of hidden gold on the Gaston Ranch has every owlhoot in the territory sniffing around, willing to kill for it. As Josh and Tiny try to protect the old couple and the Gaston Ranch, ambushes and gun battles whittle down both sides, with well-ventilated corpses sprawled all over the prairie. When the last fusillade of bullets finally slams home only one cowboy is left standing (barely) with the girl and the gold. This is a smart, meaty story with likeable characters, funny gags and some nifty surprises.
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Josh Carson and his buddy Tiny Hamilton get themselves in deep after Josh welshes on a poker bet to a group of unsavories who don't mind settling on a tar-and-feather-based repayment plan. The two drifters are rescued by Frenchy Buckalew, a matriarchal freight line owner who pays off their debt in return for their help operating her struggling business. The dastardly Cullen Leach will stop at nothing—including hiring a band of cutthroat Comancheros—to run Frenchy out of business, and if they happen to uncover a rumored cache of gold double eagles in the meantime, all the better. Although Conwell's western world displays no shades of gray and is populated by one-dimensional characters—it's easy to recognize the villains because they "sneer evilly"—whatever he lacks in originality, he mostly makes up for with infectious gusto. For Saturday morning western fans who would rather have their heroes bonk the bad guys over the head and give them a stern talking-to than shoot them full of holes, and who expect a neat bow wrapping it all up come story's end. Chipman, Ian
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