kirkusreviews.com
Marshal Virgil Cole and Deputy Marshall Everett Hitch face what
amounts to an underground range war in Appaloosa.
The minute rancher James McCormick found gold on the parcel of
land he’d purchased from Henri Baptiste, Baptiste rued the sale and tried
everything he could to persuade McCormick and his brother, Daniel, to sell it
back. The measures the Baptiste Group took included hiring seven gunslingers
headed by fearsome Victor Bartholomew to intimidate the McCormicks and their
miners, two of whom have now vanished. Nothing daunted, the McCormicks have
engaged Edward Hodge and some gunmen of their own. As each side swaggers and
threatens and waits for the other to back down, tensions rise across the town’s
4,000 souls. But dressmaker Allie French, Cole’s sweetie, still keeps her
sights fixed firmly on Appaloosa Days, the celebration of local culture she’s
enticed visiting actress/singer Martha Kathryn to join. Since sparks have
instantly flown between Martha and Hitch, the lawmen have an even greater stake
than usual in keeping the peace. But that promises to be harder than they know.
An unnamed kid has broken out of jail, traced his roots to Appaloosa, and set
his course for the troubled town, apparently robbing and killing everyone in
his path except for a teamster’s wife whose Amazonian figure makes her even
more intimidating than him. In short order, she takes him to bed, stokes the
fires of his quest for vengeance, and tags along to provide logistical support.
Cole and Hitch, who’ve now appeared in more novels written by Knott (Robert
B. Parker’s Revelation, 2017, etc.) than by their creator, have little to
do but stand around, tote up the rising body count and occasionally augment it,
and offer gruffly monosyllabic responses to questions that come their way as
the perfect storm gathers to strike their hometown.
Earnest, heavier than usual on old-fashioned detective work, and
ritualistic to a fault. If you’re surprised by anything that happens, you need
to read more Westerns.
Add comment