Customer Reviews

Tales of the Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Ave., Laramie, Wyoming, US of A

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

 

 

Tales of the Lucky Nickel, by Ken Rand

Have you ever heard a cockroach fart, or felt someone sigh like the cold breath of a graveyard? Ken Rand has the most vivid descriptions, the most picturesque language of anyone I have read for a very long time. His verbs, nouns and evocative imagery pop every detail into the reader's mind's eye with zest and humor. I laughed aloud at least once in every chapter as this master storyteller presented the regulars of the Lucky Nickel Saloon with western dialogue that rings true, spices the story and lends the mind's ear the perfect timbre for the tale. His characters are real people each distinguishable from the other as black is from white.

"He looked to be no more than a suggestion of a man, something somebody thought up and then decided "nevermind" halfway through." How can you not picture the skeletonized man through this phrase?

Chapter by chapter the reader is drawn into the lives of the patrons of the Lucky Nickel and their incredible visitors, though eccentric, they were still believable under the pen of the genius of story teller Ken Rand. A definite 6 on a scale of 1 to 5 where five is the highest score, I would highly recommend this book. No matter what your favorite genre, Rand will give you a new favorite to enjoy.

This is a remarkably fun little collection of five stories, all set it the aforementioned saloon. Rand combines the old west with the weird and deals up a winning hand each time. Each story has its charm but if I had to pick one that stood out, it would probably be "A Spider Poor Cowboy Rapt and Wide Lemon," which title makes sense if you say it aloud and allow for some linguistic drift. In this story, a ghost decides to settle in the saloon, and the regulars have to exorcise it to save the business.

The stories are all cleanly written, with almost no verbal cellulite and are a pleasure to read. This book represents, to me, money well spent.

If I have to mention a problem, it's a very small one; the stories were originally published in magazines and weren't edited for the collection, so there are small bits of redundancy, but the glitch is a minor one, and the stories are major fun.

I'll be looking forward to reading more of Ken Rand's work.