Several people have recommended this book to me over the years, and rightly so. Ed Gorman’s Westerns are actually some of the best noir crime novels being published today. LAWLESS is no exception.
The narrator, Sam Conagher, is a former outlaw who just wants to stay out of trouble. When he discovers that his old cellmate from Yuma Prison has gotten religion and even become a sheriff, he figures the town where his friend lives will be a good place for him to live an honest life. Sam gets a job, meets up with an old girlfriend, and seems ready to settle down . . . all of which should tip off the alert reader that things are about to go really bad.
And so they do, as Sam gets involved in a particularly sordid criminal conspiracy and meets all sorts of people who aren’t really what they seem. As usual in a Gorman Western, there’s not even a hint of the mythological West here, just the real thing with all its warts, peopled with well-developed, fully human characters. The yarn spins out at a very fast pace, with things getting worse and worse for Sam until the reader begins to wonder not how he’s going to get out of trouble, but if . . . and if he’ll even survive.
You can almost smell the sweat and desperation of a Fifties Gold Medal coming from this book, even though it was published by Berkley in 2000. You can’t get much better than that as far as I’m concerned.
The narrator, Sam Conagher, is a former outlaw who just wants to stay out of trouble. When he discovers that his old cellmate from Yuma Prison has gotten religion and even become a sheriff, he figures the town where his friend lives will be a good place for him to live an honest life. Sam gets a job, meets up with an old girlfriend, and seems ready to settle down . . . all of which should tip off the alert reader that things are about to go really bad.
And so they do, as Sam gets involved in a particularly sordid criminal conspiracy and meets all sorts of people who aren’t really what they seem. As usual in a Gorman Western, there’s not even a hint of the mythological West here, just the real thing with all its warts, peopled with well-developed, fully human characters. The yarn spins out at a very fast pace, with things getting worse and worse for Sam until the reader begins to wonder not how he’s going to get out of trouble, but if . . . and if he’ll even survive.
You can almost smell the sweat and desperation of a Fifties Gold Medal coming from this book, even though it was published by Berkley in 2000. You can’t get much better than that as far as I’m concerned.
1 comment:
I've wanted this book but been unable to get it. I ordered a copy through book mooch but the guy never delivered. It's not easy to find.
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