Saddle up, buckaroos, for the 90th installment of this column. We’re going back to the days when justice was served at the end of a six-shooter. So let’s hit the dusty trail and meet some good ol’ boys of the Old West.
ADAM STEELE #1: REBELS AND ASSASSINS DIE HARD by George G. Gilman – “Adam” appears on the cover in small letters, since he is mainly referred to as just “Steele” throughout this 1974 novel. Gilman also wrote the kick-ass series EDGE, which I’ve got nothing but love for. Unlike EDGE, the STEELE series is not some full-blown spaghetti Western in page form. It’s more of a slowed-down version of the genre, more in the vein of Sam Peckinpah.
The basic story opens with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the men behind the plot. See, four of the plotters figure it’s better to find a scapegoat to cover their tracks really quick. So in a bar, a man who happens to be Southern and minding his own business is lynched as a conspirator to the plot by the real culprits. The problem: The man they killed was Benjamin Steele, an agent who worked for Lincoln and father to our hero Adam Steele.
When Steele rides into town to meet his father, he discovers the truth and sets out on a trail of brutal revenge. That’s the whole plot as we follow him tracking down the members to inflict his own justice, while a former bounty hunter wants him dead.
This doesn’t have the same energy of the EDGE books, which are truly brutal and action-packed. This story takes its time with Steele, a man who does not care if he kills the wrong man. He figures he must have been guilty of something. Some of his ways of taking lives are pretty ingenious, but they have been done before in film. So if you’ve made your way through all the EDGE books, try a bit of STEELE. Just expect a slower build to the conclusion.
THE GUNSMITH #128: THE CALIENTE GOLD ROBBERY by J.R. Roberts – Roberts is actually longtime writer Robert J. Randisi, according to the copyright notice. How much he still has to do with the series is anyone’s guess. This 1992 installment is straight-up Western action – no fluff or padding. We’re talking the barest of bones for a finely taut adventure – the type I’ll be seeking more of in the future.
Clint Adams – aka The Gunsmith – is hired on by a female Wells Fargo agent to protect a shipment of gold coming into town. Like the LONGARM series, Adams has plenty of things to deal with: namely, guns and sex. The man can’t even take a bath in peace without having to defend a lady being accosted by three local toughs.
But that’s only the start of his problems, since his actions have already royally pissed off the local sheriff who sees Adams for what he is: a cold-blooded killer. He also has to deal with two men who’ve been following him around town since he took the job, only to end up getting into a gunfight. Then there are the ladies who are part of a never-ending revolving door.
But things really turn to crap when the train is late, only to discover it has been attacked and gold has been taken. This sends Adams and the agent down to Mexico to retrieve the gold and robbers. This is action I can get used to, since Adams comes off as the biggest prick of the West. Now that’s the type of hero I can support.
LONGARM AND THE BOOT HILLERS #34 by Tabor Evans – It’s the return of the marshal who shoots with both kinds of guns. This time out, he’s searching for a fellow marshal and a Pinkerton agent who went to a place called Antelope Junction, right in the middle of Mormon country. But unlike the rest of that area, this place makes DEADWOOD look like Chuck E. Cheese. Most of the time there, Longarm is being drawn into gunfights or sleeping with someone.
See, the local Boot Hill in the area has a weird condition that people who seem to be dead are not the ones buried. Everything is connected to the local saloon owner Bill Holloway, who’s greedy over gold. He has this plan to own all the land of the county so he can make a killing, knocking off anyone who might become an obstacle to his gain.
I enjoy these books, but this 1981 one was just way too padded for my tastes, with forays into Longarm bedding down two Mormon widows and the countless attempts on his life. It just feels as though the ghostwriter this time had to hit a certain page count before he could get paid. The story drags along slower than a dead horse in a race. There are plenty of action sequences to satisfy the readership with the usual amount of sex, but this is not the first LONGARM to start with. You’ll be disappointed by the lack of focus and fun the others have.
Next time: Death don’t have no mercy. –Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF TABOR EVANS:
• LONGARM #19: IN THE FOUR CORNERS by Tabor Evans
• LONGARM #48: IN THE BIG THICKET by Tabor Evans
• LONGARM AND THE LONE STAR LEGEND by Tabor Evans
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF GEORGE G. GILMAN:
• EDGE #2: TEN GRAND by George G. Gilman
• EDGE #4: KILLER’S BREED by George G. Gilman
• EDGE #6: RED RIVER by George G. Gilman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ROBERT J. RANDISI:
• LONE STAR LAW edited by Robert J. Randisi
• THE PICASSO FLOP by Vince Van Patten and Robert J. Randisi
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That STEELE cover looks just like Jack Palance in CITY SLICKERS.
Still writing ‘em. Working on #333 at the moment. Thanks for the attention, Bruce.
RJR