Kill Gardner! - Ned Oaks

As this novel opens, Garrett Gardner is a bank robber, a veteran of several holdups that have gone off without any violence or real trouble. That’s all about to change in an outburst of violence that leaves both of Gardner’s partners in crime dead, although not before one of them double-crosses him and sets him up for even more trouble in the future.

For a while, though, it looks as if Gardner will be able to put his lawless past behind him. He takes on a new identity, marries, and settles down. But there are bounty hunters and private detectives after him, hired by a man who wants vengeance, and Gardner has to go on the run again. Then, in a very nice twist, this former outlaw winds up as the marshal of a small logging town in Oregon, only to run afoul of the ambitions of a brutal, ruthless timber magnate.

Ned Oaks has written a very good traditional Western in KILL GARDNER!, his latest novel, taking several compelling plotlines and mixing them together in expert fashion. Not everything turns out quite the way you might expect, either, which is always welcome. Garrett Gardner is a flawed but ultimately sympathetic protagonist, and Oaks keeps the story moving along in a brisk, action-packed fashion.

Full disclosure: “Ned Oaks” is the pseudonym of a friend of mine who has written half a dozen Western novels, but KILL GARDNER! is the first one I’ve read. I have all the others, though, and look forward to reading them, because this one is very entertaining. If you’re a fan of traditional Westerns, you should check out KILL GARDNER! and the other books by Ned Oaks.