The
narrator/protagonist of Ed Gorman’s new novel BACKSHOT is Declan Parnell, a
young man who works in a restaurant in the mining town of Granite Bend in 1902.
Declan is the sort of guy who has a habit of giving in to temptation, usually with
bad results. He gambles and chases women (one woman in particular, the
on-again, off-again girlfriend of Declan’s boss) and is generally one step away
from wrecking his life.
Declan’s boss and the girl he lusts after hatch a robbery scheme, but they need Declan’s help to pull it off. But they’re not telling him everything and things go wrong and Declan discovers that everybody has ugly secrets, even those who appear respectable on the surface. Maybe especially those who appear respectable on the surface. And the price of learning all this may well be Declan’s life.
I’m just going to go ahead and say it: Ed Gorman is the best author of Western noir ever. Better than H.A. DeRosso and Lewis B. Patten, and they’re two of my favorites. BACKSHOT is one of his best books, fast and suspenseful and full of sharp-edged, melancholy observations about life. You need to read it.
Declan’s boss and the girl he lusts after hatch a robbery scheme, but they need Declan’s help to pull it off. But they’re not telling him everything and things go wrong and Declan discovers that everybody has ugly secrets, even those who appear respectable on the surface. Maybe especially those who appear respectable on the surface. And the price of learning all this may well be Declan’s life.
I’m just going to go ahead and say it: Ed Gorman is the best author of Western noir ever. Better than H.A. DeRosso and Lewis B. Patten, and they’re two of my favorites. BACKSHOT is one of his best books, fast and suspenseful and full of sharp-edged, melancholy observations about life. You need to read it.
5 comments:
I'd love to! Is it going to be out in an edition a lowly pulpster can afford?
Now, that I couldn't tell you. The limited edition hardback is the only version currently available.
James -- I very much agree. I've enjoyed all of Ed's noir-westerns, and this one was certainly no exception...to the contrary, it may be -- as you say -- one of his best.
Your dang right. Ed Gorman IS the best at what he does, one of the best writers of my generation for that matter. But dang again...I'm with Mean Pete on this one. In fact, I'm in the next bunk over from Pete here at Happy Pulpster Acres. Anything Ed writes is worth every penny but jeez, this one sure costs a lotta pennies! Glad the folks in High Cotton are getting a new Ed book but this is why ebooks are settin the woods on fire. I also want to read the latest Lansdale YA novel too but, uh, not for fifty smackers plus tax. Ebooks are definitely the paperbacks of today when it comes to affordable reading matter.
I fully agree with James' endorsement, but make no mistake, Ed's crime and thriller fiction is just as good. The Sam McCain series is his very best, and that's saying something, coming from a Western fan!
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