I don’t know about anyone else, but the first car I drove — a super-cool 1978 Volare green station wagon — only had an AM radio, so the musical choices for this young punk fan were talk radio, dentist-office music and one oldies station where I was thrilled to hear a Them song. So, as a teen, there was nothing cooler than having a choice of “Afternoon Delight,” “Mack the Knife” or Paul Harvey. Ugh!
Yeah, I had to endure a lot of awful music in those formative years, and this column is the end result. Fittingly, I have three books sharing titles of certain big hits of those days, with the third being a bit of forcing the matter, but close enough.
THE GAMBLER by Max Brand — You got to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em — so the song goes and pretty much sums up this 1954 book. It’s all about a professional gambler named Corcoran who has just shot a guy lying in wait. The dying man’s last request is for Corcoran to tell this man’s stepson that he has died.
Corcoran, from the sounds of his dress and look, must resemble an Old West metrosexual, since people refer to him as some sort of dandy. Once he arrives in this sleepy town of San Pablo, he first goes to the local law to introduce himself and state his business of setting up a card game, and that he plays fair as long as others do the same. But he is not scared of playing dirtier if he is being cheated.
Once that is all done, he asks about this stepson and is told that the kid is some sort of hellspawn who beats on the other kids of the town, for no other reason than to show he is not to be screwed with. Corcoran meets this kid and finds the boy is only doing it for his own survival, since he is raising himself on his own.
Corcoran enters a card game that is run by crooks who accuse him of cheating. Add to this the local schoolteacher Corcoran falls for — and her betrothed, who seems to know Corcoran from his distant past — and this is not your typical Western. Corcoran is unlike any other Western hero — oh, he’s the type who’s quicker on the draw and highly intelligent. It’s just that he takes it all as it’s thrown at him, including charges of trying to hire a gunman.
Brand’s stroytelling is not only gripping, but has enough of the violence that makes his books so readable. It’s by no means a full-on action tale — more like HIGH NOON, just with a gambler as a lead instead of the sheriff.
LANDSLIDE by Desmond Bagley — I like some Fleetwood Mac, be it with Peter Green or my copy of TUSK, but that is as far as that goes. So you know when the book is called LANDSLIDE, you can probably guess what is going to happen. Having read two previous books from Bagley that were more spy-oriented, this 1967 novel switches up the notion that he only writes for that genre. This is more of a family drama and mystery with identity issues.
Robert Boyd is a geologist who is headed back to an area that was once his home. But Boyd is unsure of who he is. As we find out, he was in accident which claimed the lives of three others — all members of the powerful Trinevant lumber family. The Trinevants were the founding family of this area, along with another clan, the Mattersons. Boyd has come back to find out if the accident was really murder.
The book flashes back to Boyd’s recovery and the doctors explaining to him that he is now so disfigured, he needs plastic surgery that will make him unrecognizable. Once he arrives in town, he pretty much starts stirring up trouble and piquing the interest of an old reporter who sees through Boyd as if he were a screen door. Boyd discovers that the last remaining Trinevant is trying to fight off the business advances of the Mattersons, whose practices involve not only bullying, but running off any third-party interests by truck. (Yes, the scene depicted on the cover actually happens.)
Bagley has a few aces up his sleeves for the twists and turns along the way, but sadly, the story gets bogged down a bit at certain points, especially when it comes to all this lumber talk and geology lessons. Some readers might not want to slog through it for the payoff, which is a bit of a surprise, but nothing that will make readers go, “Oh, wow!” Still, Bagley plays around with an idea that some won’t see coming until it’s brought up, especially since we were led like sheep for this plot point the whole time. If you’re interested in Bagley, pick up his spy tomes. They are not only better-paced, but a lot more fun.
THE GUNSMITH #85: WINNER TAKE ALL by Robert J. Randisi — Fine, so the song is really called “The Winner Takes It All,” but I have no books called WATERLOO or DANCING QUEEN. So we’ll just have to make do with this 1989 Western, in which we find The Gunsmith entering a town where right away, he is challenged to a race by Max Holloway, a former Pony Express rider.
The race is a short one, with The Gunsmith being a clear winner, since Holloway tried to cheat and got his comeuppance: being pulled from his horse and landing on his face. This just sets off Holloway to no ends, so he challenges The Gunsmith to a real race across a thousand miles, with the winner not only getting a cash prize, but the heart of the woman whom Holloway has claimed for himself.
Of course, Holloway is not one to play fair, so he schemes his way through the race, be it buying any oats and grains that The Gunsmith might need for his horse, or even trying to find a duplicate for his own horse, The Iron Soldier, so he could ride both into the ground. The story moves along just like it was the derby itself, until both riders come to an obstacle of an Indian uprising.
I read a book about the Pony Express called ORPHANS PREFERRED, which has its moments, but gets muddled, which just showed that Randisi did his research before tackling this novel. He had all his details down long before that other book came out. This entry is actually light on gunfights and the prerequisite bedding down with a variety of women, but it’s a fine read for longtime fans of the series or newbies alike. My only suggestion is that Randisi should have just called the book THE RACE IS ON, since it fits better … and also, it’s my favorite George Jones song.
Next time: To Infinity and beyond! —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF DESMOND BAGLEY:
• FREEDOM TRAP by Desmond Bagley
• RUNNING BLIND by Desmond Bagley
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MAX BRAND:
• THE FALSE RIDER by Max Brand
• GUNFIGHTER’S RETURN by Max Brand
• KING OF THE RANGE by Max Brand
• MASQUERADE: TEN CRIME STORIES by Max Brand
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ROBERT J. RANDISI:
• DOUBLE THE BOUNTY by Robert J. Randisi
• THE LAWMAN by Robert J. Randisi
• LONE STAR LAW edited by Robert J. Randisi
• THE GUNSMITH #23: THE RIVERBOAT GANG by Robert J. Randisi
• THE GUNSMITH #44: THE SCARLET GUN by Robert J. Randisi
• THE GUNSMITH #128: THE CALIENTE GOLD ROBBERY by Robert J. Randisi
• THE PICASSO FLOP by Vince Van Patten and Robert J. Randisi
• SHELTER #2: HANGING MOON by Robert J. Randisi
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
But there is nothing cooler than Bobby Darin singing “Mack the Knife”….
I know your a big Bobby Darrin fan after reading your piece in The Show I’ll Never Forget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience about the Kevin Spacey concert. One of the few pieces in that book which was really good. But when your 16 driving with your friends that was not a tune we really wantd to hear.