The Big Hunt [Mass Market Paperback]

J. T. Edson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2006

No man walks away . . .

For years, there have been none better at the trade than buffalo-skin hunter Kerry Barran. But he's taken part in too much killing -- of beast and man alike -- and now he wants to lay down his gun for good. But the hunter's got powerful enemies in Otley Creek -- and a "partner" who's unhappy about Kerry's refusal to finish one more job. If teaching the stubborn loner a lesson means breaking his bones, then so be it. In a town owned by his adversaries -- with a ruthless gang of toughs on his tail -- Kerry Barran's going to need all the help he can muster. And he's found it in the most unlikely quarters: with a dapper English dude and his sister . . .with a Texas gunslinger . . . and with a whip-wielding hellcat who goes by the name "Calamity."

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006078430X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060784300
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,091,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars go Calamity!, February 18, 2007

By 

B. Munro (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Hunt (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favoutite JT girl hero books. Calamity is doing what she loves in the untamed west with some great hunky heros to help her and another fiesty lady out. JT writes a neat script of an untamed no laws world of the mid west and keeps most of the nasties at bay. I like to read characters who love life and have fun doing it, although i do tend to skim over the descriptions of rifles, ammunition and pistols! However the descriptions of the people and the places are quite easy for me to visualise! a holiday re-read always!

2.0 out of 5 stars A sprawling disaster, October 20, 2011

By 

J. Shurin "carnivore" (London) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Hunt (Mass Market Paperback)

Mr. Edson, an Englishman, created an enormous sprawling world that spanned over a hundred books. The centerpiece was a gang of rangers and mercenaries known as "The Floating Outfit". Several characters, including the handsome Mark Counter, appear through many of the books (including this one). Mr. Edson was also a fan of mixing in 'real' characters like Calamity Jane and Wyatt Earp, as well as fictional ones like Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon and (tangentially) Tarzan. It was commercially successful and clearly a lot of fun.

The Big Hunt introduces the hunter Kerry Barran. Kerry's just quit on being a buffalo hunter - he hates the company and he loathes his petty criminal companions. Unfortunately, Cyrus Cobern, the local buffalo-trading middle man isn't pleased with this - Kerry made him too much money. Cobern plots an increasingly ridiculous series of crimes, all intended to impoverish or blackmail Kerry. Fortunately, Kerry picks up a few allies, including Lord Henry Farnes-Grable, an English big game hunter off to find new prizes. Lord Henry immediately takes a shine to the soft-spoken sharpshooter and takes him under his wing. Lord Henry's sister, Beryl, also finds Kerry to have some appeal...

The book is largely a series of set-piece scenarios, with Kerry and his allies fighting off one villainous scheme after another. There's some hunting, some shopping and a bit of (thankfully off-screen) romancing. Calamity Jane bounds around the book like the Tasmanian Devil. Armed with a whip and an attitude, she's less Catwoman than some sort of anti-feminist comic relief (which is to say, the latest iteration of Catwoman).

Despite his English nationality, Mr. Edson never shied away from his opinions on American politics and, rather unfortunately, comes across as quite the Southern sympathist. I had expected this coming in, but nothing quite prepared me for the hilarity of Mr. Edson's take on socialism.

By the end of the book, Cobern's slapstick villainy has long been forgotten and our merry band of heroes is now menaced by the sinister Varley. Varley, who Kerry once met on a railroad, is a troublemaker. As Kerry explains about his former co-worker:

"He was the leader... though I'd sooner not have his thoughts. You know the thing, equality for everybody."
"Only they mean bringing everybody down to the level of the lowest," Beryl agreed. "We have some of them in England."
"You've got them. Hating the guts of anybody who had more than them and looking down on the men they were supposing to help. Just using them to get what they themselves wanted."

Varley arrives (in a dark shroud and a puff of black smoke) to kidnap Beryl and Calamity and take them back to his tiny mountaintop dystopia. In this haven of Communist piracy, Varley and the other blackguards share their stolen spoils with one another (equally, of course). This includes the women, who are stored in a special Socialist Rape Cottage(!). Kerry arrives, guns blazing, and sends them to whatever godless hell is reserved for liberals and other thieves.

Comic relief aside, The Big Hunt is a pretty atrocious book. Kerry is the stony-faced eagle-eyed everyman that crosses the line into stereotype. There's a cast of thousands, but no interesting connections between any of them. Despite all the oddball characters that Mr. Edson throws into the mix, they all just sedately get along. Only the true villains, like Varley, provide any colour - but the poor fellow doesn't stand a chance against the army of heroes thrown against him. The Big Hunt is more interesting as an exercise in cross-overs and interwoven worlds. There's a sense that all of these people could be heroes of their own stories and this is merely one small incident in their white-hatted lives. Although impressive, it also makes the book less significant on its own - none of this is particularly meaningful to any of them. Except, of course, Varley. He's a one-off and he leaves the book very, very dead.