Morgan Kane Without Mercy by Louis Masterson

I can not remember when the last time was that I read a Western.  Of course as you age, that is not nearly remarkable as it once was.   This is a tale of betrayal, despair, revenge and acceptance set in the wilds of the Wild West. 

Morgan Kane is portrayed as a harsh harbinger of justice.  He metes out punishment based on his perception of the law.   His portrayal is made believable due to his shrieks of fear, depths of despair and melancholy nature.

Kane is larger than life but shows his humanity in both fragility and harshness.   I don’t know who or how to compare this since I seldom read Westerns.   The story is brief and has a certain pathos or perhaps romanticism in Kane’s conflict with personal relationships.  

I recommend the book.

 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Sisters brothers by Patrick Dewitt

This is a psychological western from the San Francisco gold rush days.  You might say it is a profile of two aberrant cowboy hit men.

Eli and Charlie sister were among the most complicated characters I've ever encountered.   Charlie and Eli had an abusive father.  The impact their childhood had on there well being and on their adult behavior is a major factor in the book.  I am not fond of the cowboy genre however this book surprised me.

The plot was a bit convoluted but it was certainly interesting.  I didn't find single admirable character, I just couldn’t like the brothers or even any of their victims.  However the book is populated by a wealth of colorful characters.  If you're interested in a read off your beaten path this might be the book for you.

I recommend it.

Body of work of Patrick Dewitt

Web Site: http://www.patrickdewitt.net/

Lone Star (Stellar Ranger) by Steve Perry

Apparently Baldacci decided he needed more action in his books. Well, he certainly went over the top on this one. The book has kidnapping, murder, sex, swat teams, guns, more guns, drug abuse, radical fringe groups, wealth, privilege, anguish, guilt and more of the same. This is a serious page turner whose major theme is dealing with guilt and anger. That isn’t going to be obvious until you work through the book. Some solid psychiatric principles were at work in this book. Baldacci writes a truly compelling tale. Read it!

Body of work of Steve Perry

Review: From BooklistThe author of the highly successful Matador saga seems in his new series, Stellar Ranger (of which this is the second book), to be thumbing his nose at all the old guard in sf who roundly denounce translating western plots into sf settings. For to a degree that is certainly what Perry is doing: Stellar Ranger Cinch Carston would get along famously with Wyatt Earp or Texas John Slaughter. Perry does, however, also tell a highly readable sf action story with his usual exuberance of incident and breakneck pacing. The plot involves Carston's being sent to a jungle world to round up three rebels who are, however, rebelling against attempted genocide, which puts the matter in a different light and, in due course, Carston on a different side. Perry clearly has fun writing action sf; his readers are likely to have an equally enjoyable time. Roland Green


Web Site: http://home.comcast.net/~perry1966/contact.html