The Blazing Land - Hal G. Evarts

There were two Western writers named Hal G. Evarts, father and son. The father was a successful author during the first three decades of the 20^th Century. His son was even more prolific during the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies. THE BLAZING LAND is by Evarts Jr. and is the first thing I’ve read by either of them.

This novel, published as a paperback original by Dell in 1960 and reprinted in 1966 (the edition I read) is set in California and Arizona during the early days of the Civil War. It opens in the sleepy little town of Los Angeles, where rancher Will Colladay is looking for his ne’er-do-well brother Andy. Andy has really gotten himself in trouble this time. Thrown in jail by the army for expressing sentiments in support of the Confederacy, Andy has broken out and killed a soldier in the process. The woman he’s engaged to marry, a beautiful redheaded faro dealer, convinces Will to help his brother escape his pursuers. In order to do that, Will makes a deal with a shady character that puts his ranch at risk, but he succeeds in getting Andy away from Los Angeles and together with the redhead, who insists on coming along, they head for Mexico with the intention of eventually getting back to Texas and joining in the fight on the side of the South.

But to get there, they have to take a roundabout route through the Mojave Desert, which means they’ll have to survive the elements, hostile Indians, treacherous whites, and pursuit from the military, not to mention clashes with each other.

THE BLAZING LAND is a little slow to get started, but once it does, it becomes more hardboiled and suspenseful. Evarts does a great job with the setting and the characters are all well-developed and interesting, with some really despicable villains. (Some of you may have noticed that I like books with really despicable villains.) The outcome is maybe a little bit predictable and the book could have used a few more action scenes, but overall, I think it’s a really solid traditional Western. I definitely plan to read more by Evarts Jr. I have a few books by Evarts Sr., too, and I may even get around to them one of these days.