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| Illustrator unknown |
The book is hard to get into at first, because there's so many characters to be introduced to all at once, but once the story gets going it becomes a gripping, tightly plotted adventure.
Gunfighter Mathieu Brennan rides into Hattan's Point, into the middle of a ranch war between the Maclarens and the Pinders over the Two-Bar ranch, owned by an old man named Ball. While at Hattan's point, Matt falls in love with Maclaren's daughter Moira and immediately decides to marry her, despite the fact that they've only just met.
Matt visits Ball and is taken under the old man's wing, but soon after a visit to the Benaras family (a forgettable family who serve as reliable allies) Ball is killed, and Matt swears revenge.
I liked how even though the main character was an experienced shot and tough guy, he has his own weaknesses which he makes up for in tenacity. Realistically after a gunfight he takes ages to recover, yet he's still smart, strong and always picks the perfect places for attack and defense. He's sort of like a cowboy John McClane but younger.
For another ally he has small, strong, lovable Irish wrestler Brian Mulvaney, a trusted confidant. I enjoyed reading about him and part of what kept me engaged was the hope that he'd live in the end. I do wish he was fleshed out a little more, though.
There's also Canaval, who is pretty cool sadly underused in the story.
The love interest, Moira, is competently written and has some good moments but she's mostly a typical love interest in an adventure story, a man's idea of what a woman is like. The moment Matt meets her and declares he's going to marry her, she reacts with an anger and outrage, but an anger that is almost superficial and turns into curiosity.
The quote follows: "I'd have gotten exactly nowhere, but now she would be curious, and there is no trait that women possess more fortunate for men." I only wonder what kind of message that sends to women, or men attracted to women, for that matter.
She isn't completely weak, and even actively helps him once or twice, but in the end she's just a prize for Brennan to win, and there's barely anything she does in the novel that doesn't revolve around him.
The supporting characters are pretty forgettable. What was Key Chapin's role again?
Some of them are unevenly described. Is Morgan Park's face handsome or ugly? It's hard to picture him properly. L'Amour keeps going on about his tiny feet. I know it's an important plot point, but does he have to keep bringing him up?
Oh, and he's also after Moira, which just makes her a prize to be won. Not as egregiously as the woman at the end of Flaming Irons, though.
Park, The Slades, Miller and Booker are all two-dimensional antagonists. There's not even any entertainment value to them.
This is an engaging story that unfolds with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. It even becomes a bit of a whodunit mystery somewhere around the middle of the book. Sometimes the plot can get convoluted but some loose ends are tied in the end.
I'm not normally interested in stories about cattle businesses. I've seen so many movies about cattle drives. But this novel held my interest and I recommend it. It has a lot of atmosphere and emotion.
