Crossing Fire River (A Gunman's Reputation Novel)

This is Ralph Cotton's First Novel Staring Lawrence Shaw in the FIRE RIVER BOOKS. Reader Rating See Detailed Ratings Posted 02/04/10: I don't know how many books are in the FIRE RIVER Stories, but I hope there's many more. I have read have read two, this one and the next titled, Escape From Fire River. Like the oterh books these don' thave to be read in order, but in this case I did, and I'm glad as it makes for a good enjoyable read. Like all of Mr. Cotton's books, the story is high above the everyday western yarns we find out there today. Lawrence Shaw (Fast Larry) is still battling his demons, his drinking problems and his grief over his wasted life and his dead wife Rosa. But in spite of his drinking and his remorse he's still faster with a gun than any of the men who come to kill him. Anything said more than that will start giving away a really great and original story. Mr. Cotton's fans won't want to miss this one, or the rest of the Fire River titles. Shaw has made his place right up there with Ranger Sam on my all-time favorites book shelf.

A straight forward western by any measure.This is my first encounter with the author Ralph Cotton .It seems he has collaborated with Ralph Copmpton on several novels,though.It is also my first encounter with the main character in this novel,Lawrence Shaw,or as he has been known in the past as "Fast Larry". How he came to be known by that moniker becomes obvious on more than one occasion in this story. The story is well thought out and it keeps the readers attention from start to finish. It has lots of great Old West scenes in saloons,ambushes,gunfights and situations that look pretty hopeless,but they all get dealt with.This is fairly long by western novel standards,being 286 pages.There are a half dozen main characters who are interesting and well developed;then there are another 25 or more we get to know by name ,but they don't hang around for long.To keep track of them all,maybe the reader should start a scorecard at the beginning.Then again,with all these names popping up;it would have been handy if the author had provided us with a list of them all, and their associations.I don't know if this is the first novel about Fast Larry or not;but at the end of the novel we see that the author has given us a preview of a follow-up novel "Escape From Fire River" scheduled to be released this month.That sounds good,as we are left wondering where and what happens after the finish of this novel. Lawrence(Fast Larry") is a great character and there is potential for a series like "Longarm",The Trailsman" or "The Gunsmith".Let's hope that is what Ralph Cotton has in mind. Cotton is a no nonsense writer and doesn't fill his story with a lot of drawn out descriptions.I do feel though that he could provide more in the way of good Old West expressions , parlance and memorable "one-liners". There is also almost nothing at all in the way of historical connections ,nor is there much in the way of description of the natural surroundings.The line I chose for my title shows the author is capable in this respect,and I for one would like him to do more of it. Nonetheless;I am looking forward to more from both "Fast Larry" and Ralph Cotton.