Customer Reviews

Shootout at Picture Rock (Signet Historical Fiction)

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

 

 

Joseph A. West writes both intelligent and interesting westerns, and in this one from March, 2006, he uses a kidnap ploy with $20,000.00 up for grabs.

Angela Wilson, the gal deputy United States marshall John Kilcoyn is sweet on and her father, Doc Wilson, are used as hostages for money that the businessmen of Dodge City have put up for ransom. Another lawman is involved too, since this is Dodge City the sheriff is Bat Masterson. Masterson throws in with John Kilcoyn to take up the trail of the missing Wilsons.

Westerns with historical figures are always intriguing and it doesn't take long for Kilcoyn to give his impression of Bat Masterson: "a man with bark on him, and in the past Kilcoyn had seen him endure hard trails that forced stronger men to fall by the wayside. He was already gaining a reputation in the west as a brave, competent lawman and a named gunfighter. The marshal knew that when the chips were down he could wholly depend on Masterson and, to Kilcoyn, that was the measure of a man.". So side by side these two plus one other trail their way through both Cheyenne and Lakota (Sioux) war party attacks, raging blizzards, several gunfights, and frustrating misses to eventually reach the end of the search trail at Picture Rock near Saw Log creek and finally at Horse Thief Canyon.

In both his own books for Signet and those he writes for the late Ralph Compton, Joseph A. West has time and again shown great ability and feeling for western fiction. His books most generally do not adhere to the contemporary formulaic western novel, but offer the reader a chance for a more comprehensive view of human nature, especially when they are working under pressure situations.

Might want to try one of these books from Mr. West, you will not be disappointed. Good reading, pard.

Semper Fi.

I'm very fussy about the westerns I read. I don't like graphic violence or language, but when it comes to action and suspense, this book has it all! The only thing that irritated me was the way Bat Masterson was portrayed, more as a frontier hick than a frontier gentleman. Was a bit disappointed that the ex-marshal/friend of Kilcoyn and Kilcoyn himself didn't have an old fashioned, face to face shoot-out. Otherwise, western enthusiasts, and action lovers will enjoy this novel.