Blood and Gold (Wheeler Western) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Todhunter Ballard (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597226912
• ISBN-13: 978-1597226912
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,215,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Proficient formula Western, August 6, 2011

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Gold (Wheeler Western) (Paperback)

This book was originally published (in 1962) under the title "Gopher Gold ",Gopher being the town in which the bulk of the action takes place.It is a town with problems namely an outbreak of fever .The inclement weather means the town is snowbound making it virtually impossible to get help ,or escape from the infection.There has also been a major gold find ,one "Sam Dohne" having struck it rich .He has melted the gold down into a large gold ball ,and many inhabitants are waiting to seize the gold ,if they should survive the fever ,that is.
" Dr Adam Patch" ,from the nearby town of Goldfield ,journeys to Gopher ,to try to help the victims of the fever ,and he is accompanied by the capable and efficient "Mary Colliins"whose abusive husband is a miner in Gopher ,and by the Virginia aristocrat "Lindsay Stewart" who is in love with her.His diminutive stature and Southern gentleman exterior masks a ruthless streak .

The book focuses on attempts to beat the fever,frustrate the town's outlaw element ,especially the dangerous "Kid Beale" and to retrieve the gold and restore it to its rightful owner.

It is not a Western of the "wide open spaces"variety;its action is set within the claustrophobic world of mines ,saloons ,and makeshift hospitals .Nor does it chracterise people in stark black and white ,good and evil types The symapthy for those caught up in events beyond their control is deftly and movingly etched ,especially for the saloon girls pressed into survive as nurses and facing dangers for which they had not signed up.

Ballard was not a great writer of the formula Western but he was a pretty good one and this book ,like his other,delivers solid entertainment for genre lovers