As regular readers of this blog know, I’ve been a fan of Chap O’Keefe’s Western novels for quite a while now. O’Keefe, of course, is actually Keith Chapman, who has been in the genre fiction business as a writer and editor for a long time. His novel PEACE AT ANY PRICE is set in Texas in the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, fertile ground for many great Western yarns over the years.
Actually, this one starts during the war, as ranchers Jim Hunter and Matt
Harrison dissolve their partnership after their herd is rustled and their barn
and bunkhouse are burned down. Jim supports the Confederacy and Matt the Union,
so they each go off to join those respective armies, although unlike some
friends who found themselves on opposite sides, their parting is amicable.
Instead of fighting in the regular army, Jim finds himself riding with a group
of irregulars and involved in smuggling across the Mexican border. After the
war, when Jim returns to the small town in South Texas near the ranch he and
Matt established, he finds that Matt is back, too, trying to get the ranch up
and running again—but Matt has also married the girl Jim was in love with. Jim
can’t stay, so he goes off and gets mixed up with the smuggling gang again, but
circumstances keep dragging the fates of the former partners together.
The plot and tone of this novel remind me of some of the classic Gold Medal
Westerns from the Fifties and Sixties. Femme fatales, double crosses, and a gritty,
noirish feel make it a very entertaining tale. And for someone who’s never
actually been to Texas, O’Keefe really nails the Gulf Coast setting, including
a humdinger of a hurricane that’s very realistic. PEACE AT ANY PRICE really
races along and I had a fine time reading it. If you’re a fan of traditional
Westerns, I think there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it a lot, as well. It’s
available on Amazon in paperback and e-book editions.
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