Customer Reviews

The Man From Nowhere: A Ralph Compton Novel

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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This novel in the Ralph Compton series, written by Joseph A. West, can be classified in the 'gunfighter' series. Compton's novels are of 3 types: gunfighter series, trail series, and general ranch series. Since this latest release has a 'gun belt' on the spine, it seems to rest in the gunfighter series of westerns.

Yet it doesn't neatly fit that category when compared to some of the past books, as this gunfighter is a past town drunk who has come to the gun through necessity. "Eddie Oates escaped the noose, but, along with three prostitutes and a simpleton, he was banished from the town, left for the Apaches to kill."

Victorio's Apaches are on the prowl with Alma, New Mexico, as their latest point of attack. Due to low provisions the 'good' citizens of the town are either hanging undesireables or kicking them out of town so as not to have to feed them during the seige. The four people spewed forth into the hostile wilderness seem at first unable to keep themselves alive, however, through one event or another, do just that. And do much better than that by end of their story. As you read this book these people become not only familiar but interesting indeed.

It does have the quality of a well written book most readers will not want put down, wanting to know how it all turns out. In addition, as Mr. West's historical note explains the town of Alma did once exist, is now a ghost town today, and did undergo similiar attacks by the Apaches. In 1880 in and around the town some 31 citizens were killed in those attacks. Mr. West calls Alma, New Mexico, "one of the West's most turbulent settlements."

Mr. West has written other books in the Ralph Compton series, as well as books under his own name, with THE MAN FROM NOWHERE being one of the more enjoyable to date. Anyone enjoying both a well written western and a story with a different slant to the story will no doubt find this a worthwhile read. Though doubious at first, I came to truly enjoy the book.

Semper Fi.

Eddie Oates has always been a drunk, good for little else than humiliating entertainment given in exchange for a drink. When the Apaches surround Alma, New Mexico Territory, its citizens cut the fat to save supplies. This includes hanging the stage-robbing Hart brothers ahead of their sentenced date and banishing Eddie, three whores, and "simple boy" Sam Tatum.

Left to his own devices, Eddie continues to show off his faults. But he soon finds the better part of himself through dealing with people he meets along his travels -- especially a young Lipan Apache who says she's his wife.

Author Joseph A. West wrote the first two "Ralph Compton" novels I read: Doomsday Rider and Vengeance Rider. Those two introduced me to the style, and at first it didn't seem like anything special. But I've read other Comptons in the meantime (Rio Largo by David Robbins and The Goodnight Trail by Compton himself) and have since come to appreciate the particular tone and blend of action with characterization that it typifies. Now I'm continually on the lookout for them, and "Ralph Compton" (whoever is actually doing the writing) is one of my favorite Western authors.

So, when I saw The Man from Nowhere, I decided to give West another try. He pleasantly surprised me. Eddie Oates, along with all the other characters that people the novel, are fully realized portraits of individuals under some form of duress or another -- none more than Oates himself, who continually fights his desire for alcohol and eventually redeems himself and even becomes a hero of sorts.

The story is mainly Eddie's, but West makes sure to give each character in The Man from Nowhere his or her time in the spotlight and offers up not just one but two memorable villains in the process. He also ties things up with a feel-good ending that doesn't forget the seriousness of what came before. West has truly impressed me with this latest offering, and I'll definitely look for his name in the future.

Although a big fan of Old West Westerns;Ralph Compton westerns are new to me.It gets a bit confusing as to who the authors are.Apparently he was not the actual writer but at the back of this novel we see his photograph and a bit of a bio;but this novel was written by Joseph A West.I have also read one by Ralph Cotton who colllaborated with Compton.If you read the other reviews;you will see that other writers have also written under this name. This is somewhat common with westerns today;but the actual writers are not normally identified .I like the idea of giving the actual writer credit and wish more would do so.The Longarm ,Lone Star, Trailsman,and others series are also written by unidentified writers. The style changes are evident and I am sure the fans would like to know who the real writers are,and not left wondering.I would also like to see credit given to the artists who do the great artwork on the covers.
There are several very good reviews on this novel;so I will refrain from covering the same things.
It is an excellent read.There are several well developed and interesting and quite different characters.The story is well constructed and holds the readers interest from start to finish.The length ,at 295 pages ,is about 100 pages longer than the standard western.The writer gives a lot of descriptive detail, which some might find too much,but I did not find it overwhelming.The writer writes with a good sense of historical flavour as well as actual geographical reality. All the towns,mountains,rivers etc. are real and actually located due west of Truth or Consequences,New Mexico,near the Arizona border.That is except for one town,and surprisingly, that is the main town in the story,Heartbreak.In historical novels,I really like it when the writer includes some of the actual history of the area.It is done in this story;and there is even a one page Historical Note at the end.
The writer also gives us a lot of good Old West parlance,and expressions.
The story is filled with action and intrigue ; and much to the liking of this western fan ,stays away from becomming a mystery or whodunit,disguised as a western.
I am looking forward to reading more of these "Ralph Comptons" as they are what I like in an "Old West Western".

I grew up on westerns. I read them all and acted out the story lines of many them when I played outside with the other boys. As I grew older my reading tastes changed. Now westerns are what I read when I have read too many other types of novels. Think of them as cleaning the taste buds of bad tasting food. A western to me is like comfort food, i.e. meat loaf. You read one and you relax.

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE is like that. You can pick this up and read it quickly or put it down and pick it up later. This book has all the old western values, good versus evil, what makes a man, and friendship. The openning is reminds one of THE OUTCASTS OF POKERFLATS with its main characters being thrown out of town. There is nothing new here, you meet the town drunk and you know that he will change. There is gambler who takes pity on the drunk in the beginning and you know that they will meet again. There are whores and the retarded boy who has a special gift. You know that they will turn out to be whores with a heart of gold and the retarded boy is not retarded. The best line in the book comes from this group, "Your such a whore!" which is repeated through out the novel.

You meet the bad guys and they are really bad. There are no redeeming qualities in these men. There is the young pretty Indian maiden and she..well you are starting to see the pattern now aren't you.

This is an old fashion western in story and characters. It is one you have read many times and there are really no surprises here, but that is not why people read westerns is it? This why I call them comfort food. You know what you are getting going in and you are not disappointed when you leave.

Now the writing style is not smooth. By that I mean the characters are not polished and their actions or the telling of their actions is not smoothly written. I am comparing this to the works of Elmore Leonard and Louis L'Amour. This may not be fair, but they set the standards and they learned their trade from those who wrote westerns before them.