A couple of weeks ago, I read the issue of RANCH ROMANCES that contained the first installment of Philip Ketchum’s serialized novel “Longhorn Stampede”. I didn’t read that installment in the pulp because I thought I had the novel version and would probably read it one of these days. Well, it turns out that I didn’t have a copy, but then I discovered that it was published by Popular Library with an A. Leslie Ross cover, and temptation got the better of me. I found an affordable copy, ordered it, and read it as soon as it arrived. That turned out to be a good choice all around!
Llano Smith is a Texas cowboy helping drive a trail herd to the railhead in Kansas. When the owner of the herd falls sick, Llano heads for a nearby town to see if he can find a doctor. This turns out to be a mistake, because the settlement is actually run by an owlhoot who is in league with a rustling kingpin. Llano winds up in all sorts of trouble, including being framed for murder and thrown in jail to await trial and hanging.
Ah, but Llano has a secret, you see. He’s actually a reformed outlaw from Texas named Sam Todd who hit the vengeance trail when a gang of carpetbaggers wiped out his family after the war. He’s settled the score with all of them except one, and he’s lost the thirst for revenge on that one, figuring it’s better to take a new name and start a new life. (None of this is a spoiler. Ketchum lays out all the background pretty early in the book.)
Anybody who’s read many traditional Western novels and/or watched many Western movies will be able to foresee most of what happens in this novel. Coincidence plays a rather large part in Ketchum’s plot, but that doesn’t really bother me. What’s important is that he was a writer with an excellent hardboiled style who really knew how to keep a story moving along. And there are a few minor surprises as everything doesn’t work out exactly like you might expect it to.
Llano Smith is a fine protagonist, plenty tough and not always likable but still sympathetic enough for the reader to root for him. Ketchum does a very good job with the inevitable romantic triangle involving Llano, a rancher’s beautiful daughter, and a beautiful saloonkeeper in the outlaw town. At times these scenes are actually pretty racy for the time period. The action scenes are gritty and effective and build up to a smashing climax.
My copy of LONGHORN STAMPEDE has some damage to the front cover, which is probably why it was fairly affordable, but that’s it in the scan anyway. The cover isn’t really a wraparound illustration, but the back cover has more Ross art, so I’m including it as well. I love those Popular Library editions from the Fifties. Consistently good books with good covers. I’m glad I was prompted to pick this one up and read it.
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