Customer Reviews

Ghost Town

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

....and that's what I did when I picked this book out to buy. I'm not a reader of little western novels. I'd never heard of the author, Ed Gorman. But, it just sort of leaped out at me so I bought this little book and gave it a home. I'm glad I did because I enjoyed reading it and will probably be reading more books by Mr. Gorman.

The anti-hero of GHOST TOWN, Bryce Lamont has been released from prison and has journeyed to a town in Wisconsin in search of his old partner in crime because he never got his cut of the money from their last job because Bryce was caught and served time. He finds Jed, his old friend is now an upstanding citizen and owns the bank. Between Bryce's instincts and suspious matters happening in town, he knows something big is going on and Jed's hand is the one stirring things up and Bryce keeps landing in the stirred pot. But, can he prove the respected bank owner is not who he appears? While all the turmoil is going on, Bryce finds the lady doctor of the town is stirring a few things up as well.....like, his feelings for her.

I like the way the story is told in the first person mode and without all the old western cliche`s I expected. The humor, the suspense and a touch of romance were blended just right for a very enjoyable read. I may be ready for another western saga or two!

I won't try to summarize this western saga as it has already been done very well by the first reviewer,Kay Lewis on June 6,2001.She says she's a first time western reader,liked it a lot,wrote a great review,and plans to read more of Gorman's novels.Go Girl!

The other reviewer,Max Ilman, in his review of April 30,2003,also liked it a lot. I have come across Max's reviews on several occasions and enjoy them.I have also scanned his "All my Reviews",and see he has reviewed 129 westerns and has received 157 helpful votes.He seems to stick to westerns.He has reviewed novels by many of the popular western writers and the fact that there are not a lot more helpful votes;is probably due to the fact that it seems "western Readers" would prefer to spend their time reading rather than writing reviews.That is probably why you'll find low numbers of reviews on most westerns.

As with Kay,this is my first Gorman western;though I am a big fan of the Longarm,Trailsman and Lone Star series.I have recently been reading Peter Brandvold,and also really enjoy his stories.

My preference in westerns is much more in the area of "The Old West" from the 1860's till the late 1880's.I like the Gunslingers,Shootouts,Saloon Fights,Card-playing disputes,ambushes,shoot-outs in the canyons,raids on campsites,cattle drives,stage and bank robberies,and all the characters found around the mining and cattle towns ,the good,the bad and the indifferent.I particularly like it when the history of the time is worked into the story,be it the army,politicans,Mormans,Indian leaders,Wells Fargo ,Pinkertons,Mexicans and all the crooks and hucksters of the period.

However;I am not much of a fan of dtective ,suspense or mystery stories and prefer westerns that don't have too much of that sort of thing in them.

This story is set in Wisconsin,a long way down the trail of the Old West;Utah,Arizona,New Mexico,Nevada,Colorado,Texas and the Southwest area.

The story is also set at the turn of the century,between 1895 and 1900,when the Gunslingers of the days of Tombstone,Leadville Bodie,Deadwoon;and the Earp's,James Bothers,Hickock,Calamity Jane,Masterson and all were either dead ,too old for that life any more,and the towns were being settled down and building booms were happening as the west was being opened up.

Heck;when Bryce Lamont talks of his hero being Nick Carter and other Mystery writers are mentioned ,as opposed to people like Ned Buntline,you what Bob Dylan would say;"The times,they are a'changing".

"Nuff said.If you like westerns with a mystery flavor you will find this a great read.Personally ,I prefer more fast-action,shoot-outs,saloon brawls,and rope-dancing,soiled doves who can handle a gun,and a stand-off on main steeet whether at dawn noon or sunset.

I also enjoy the artwork on the covers of westerns.This one is great.It reminds me of the string of crosses I once saw along the hill at the old Bodie California mining Ghost Town,early one morning.

Just a few minutes ago I finished GHOST TOWN. I was not thrilled during the first 100 pgs. or more. But the last 100 were very exciting and page turning. I read the review by Kay Lewis and I agree with her 100%. And it would be impossible for me to write it down as well as her so I won't even try.

Author Ed Gorman's Western novels are primarily in the genre he calls "Western noir." In many ways -- just about every way except the setting -- Ghost Town is more like typical crime fiction than other, more traditional Westerns.

Prison-educated trial lawyer (and sometime thief and con artist) Bryce Lamont is keen to find his old partners Jed Wylie and Frank Stodla. Especially since they still owe him his cut from the job that put him away. He's tracked them down to the midwestern town of Wyatt, Wisconsin, where Jed and Frank appear to have gone legit as a banker and his handyman (though enforcer is more like it).

Unfortunately, a really bad malaria epidemic has hit Wylie, and Bryce's brother Paul has a particularly bad case of it, though Bryce refuses to believe it until he hears it from Laura, Paul's heretofore unmet fiancée and the local doctor. She is the only woman of dignity in a town of iniquity.

Bryce gets the money but loses his brother and sets out to find the ones responsible for Paul's death with only the help of a 15-year-old wannabe bounty hunter and a snake-oil salesman. Threaded throughout -- and somehow tying in with all this -- is the trial of one Jenny Rice, accused of murdering her own fiancée.

Gorman's Western novels are the perfect stepping stone for the crime-fiction enthusiast wanting to get his or her feet wet in the Western genre. Ghost Town doesn't shy away from the painful parts of life, covering unrequited love, the pain of loss, the suffering of sickness, and the anxiety of hiding from justice, among others.

Ed Gorman is one of my favorite Western writers. His works are largely influenced by the Gold Medal novels of the 1950s and '60s. Donald E. Westlake (to whom Ghost Town is dedicated) pointed out similarities to the Westerns of Will Charles (crime author Charles Willeford writing under a pseudonym), stories that Gorman had not read.

Willeford and Gorman approached their material in the same way, namely that criminals are the same no matter what time period they're living in. That's Western noir. What Gorman is doing with the Western that may not be new, but it's still a fresh approach that hasn't been done to death. He did not create the concept of Western noir, but he gave it a name, and he is certainly the best at it.

"Dusk was setting in, the sky the color of fancy rouge, the air cooler, stars already clear in the canopy of night. This is always the most melancholy time of day for me and I can never decide which quick fix I need most -- a drink, sex, or cutting my wrists." --Ed Gorman, Ghost Town

Ghost Town by Ed Gorman isn't a bad book, except I already read Wolf Moon. Both novels have similar elements and themes. Wolf Moon was published in 1993 and Gorman went to the well again in 2001 with Ghost Town. He didn't need to, imo, and the result is a lesser effort.

They're both about a guy just out of prison. He's not your usual western hero by any stretch. This fits with Gorman's principle in writing western fiction. He once told me through email: "My westerns tend to depict the real west as opposed to the mythic west, sort of hardboiled westerns I guess. I've seen enough John Wayne westerns to last my ten lifetimes. I like the Peckinpah and Anthony Mann approach."

In Ghost Town Gorman follows that pattern and it does work stylistically. Bryce Lamont is a con man who is set on revenge and gets involved in a bank robbery which results in the death of his brother. The setting is Wisconsin at the turn of the century. The town is ravaged by malaria. It's a good setting. But this time more than anything the fiction comes across as more hard-boiled than western. The West, and its trappings, take backstage to the mystery and psychological drama that flares between the characters.

I'm sorry if I keep comparing the two novels, but Ghost Town is so similar to Wolf Moon, and the latter so superior, I really felt like I was reading a washed-out plot. Ghost Town isn't a bad book, not by any stretch. And if you haven't read Gorman at all this novel is a great gateway to his style and work in the western genre.

Just compared to his other stuff this one came off as mediocre to me.