Shoot-Out at Broken Bow

Shoot-out at Broken Bow was one of the most enjoyable westerns I've read in a long while. Young Marshal Casey Dixon captures and hangs outlaw Billy Blanton outside of the tiny town of Broken Bow. Billy had just murdered Broken Bow's sheriff, so the judgment was deserved. However Billy was the youngest of the notorious Blanton family who caused quite a ruckus in the Indian Territories a few years back. Once the infamous Roy Blanton and his no good sons find out, there will be hell to pay. This is a very well done pulp western. It's not the second coming of Lonesome Dove or anything, but it is slick, fast moving and constantly entertaining. I liked Mr. West's writing. He moved the story along at a snappy pace without making it feel like it was going so fast things were getting skipped. I liked reading about the Choctaw Lighthorse police, and the general portrayal on the Indian Territories. I wish there were more description as I happen to like well written details. Mr. West's writing was geared more towards suspenseful yarn-spinning than describing the layout of various saloons. He did provide enough detail to keep the narrative from ever feeling vague. The characters are all cardboard cutouts, but again, for the story he is telling it was enough. There were enough twists and quirks to the characters to keep them interesting, even if they weren't particularly deep. Roy Blanton makes for a very strong bad man. He is never softened and is fun to root against him. Casey is teamed up with older marshal Buck Fletcher, who was responsible for chasing the Blantons out of the Territories previously. The story of Buck's previous showdown with the Blantons is revealed slowly and made Buck a much more interesting character than he could have been. I would easily recommend Shoot-out at Broken Bow as a fast, suspenseful western. Charles West is a more solid writer than a lot of the other modern western authors I have read and I have already picked up a few more of his books.