Customer Reviews

Blood Money and Other Stories

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I don't know if it's ever been a huge genre, but the western has definitely diminished over the years. At this point, most major bookstores don't even list it in a separate area anymore. The number of western authors who are commonly recognizable names can probably be counted off on a single hand: certainly Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey, and if you're of a more literary bent, Cormac McCarthy. For most people, the name Elmore Leonard invokes thoughts of urban crime stories, but long before he made a name in mysteries, he was also a western writer.

Blood Money and Other Stories is a collection of Leonard's western stories from the 1950s. The opening story, Apache Medicine deals with a cavalry scout's encounter with a son of an Apache chief. Red Hell Hits Diablo Canyon is another cavalry and Indians story. The Last Shot is a Civil War story; Blood Money deals with bank robbers under siege; Saint With a Six-Gun is the story of a young man recruited to be a prison guard for a wily but doomed convict; Man with the Iron Arm is the tale of redemption for a Civil War veteran and The Longest Day of His Life chronicles a day in which a railroad man is robbed, finds love and confronts some old enemies.

All these stories are pretty short; the longest is less than fifty pages of relatively large print. For those familiar with Leonard's later works, there may be a sense of disappointment. These tales were written when Leonard was still honing his craft, and his dynamic dialogue and sly humor is not really present. There is, however, nothing really wrong with any of these stories; even early Leonard is well-written. True to the classic western, there is plenty of action.

I've read a lot of Leonard's western stories, and while I prefer his novels in this genre, even the short stories are entertaining. If you are a fan of either westerns or Leonard, this collection is worth reading.

Who woulda thunk one of America's top mystery writers started out writing westerns? Back in the '50s, Elmore Leonard cranked out a number of western short stories and novels, the short stories subsequently being collected in the 2004 hardcover book entitled COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD. This book is one of at least three PBs featuring some of the stories from that 2004 volume.

BLOOD MONEY features seven stories. To be honest, they aren't all that memorable. For one thing, the characters aren't very well-developed. I enjoyed the villain in 'The Longest Day of His Life' story but the story's hero didn't ring true. He seemed much too contemporary, much too glib. 'Apache Medicine' was the story I liked best wherein a Cavalry Scout cleverly kills two birds with one stone. Another story - 'Red Hell Hits Canyon Diablo' - started out well, involving a Cavalry troop looking for a deserter only to be ambushed by Indians. Then the story went Hollywood with the Indians-Cavalry standoff being decided by a mescal drinking contest! Sorry, Elmore, I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that far.

Likewise Leonard didn't evoke the setting of the old West as effectively as, say, Frank Bonham or Fred Grove or Ray Hogan.

In some ways, I think the stories didn't trip my trigger because they're too short, too terse. The skeleton is there but there ain't much meat on the bones.

But, at $5.99, what the heck. Buy a copy; you may like it.

I have read all of Elmore Leonard's novels except the Western ones, which I was not attracted to, however I have now read three of them and they are great too. You just can't go wrong with Leonard.

I'm not a big fan of western, and seldom buy short story collections. That said, I'm a huge Elmore leonard fan, and it seems that no matter what genre he is writing, or what form (short stories), he almost never misses.

Many of the stories here are traditional westerns like the kind pulps used to publish, but Leonard always gives way more than the average writer no matter the form. Several didn't seem up to the usual standards except where dialogue crackles and gives the story a jolt of life even with a soft plot. But as $8 paperbacks go, even if half the stories are satisfying - for me more like two thirds - the cost is well worth it. All the stories share the Leonard style, and the kind of sparce writing he has created makes them come alive.

Surprising twists mixed with interesting plots and tense drama, even in the western genre make this collection well worth the effort.