Marauders' Moon [Large Print]

Once again Luke Short draws a picture of a lone courageous man facing incredible odds and succeeding by determination, wit, and the speed of his guns and fists. Webb Cousins has been set up for the robbery of a train on which he was riding and captured by a Wintering County deputy when the two of them get caught in the middle of a bank holdup in Wagon Mound, in the next county north. Suddenly Webb finds himself handcuffed to a dead deputy and accused of being in on the holdup, which has cleaned the town out. He soon discovers that the two counties have been feuding bitterly for almost a generation--indeed, Wagon Mound and its surrounding ranches were established by people fleeing the lawless Bannister clan that had taken over Wintering--and that the bank robbers were almost certainly in Bannister pay. It's none of Webb's business, but when he's remanded to the custody of cattleman Buck Tolleston (because the county is now broke and can't afford to feed him if he's jailed), he slowly becomes an advocate of the Wagon Mound faction, and in the end it's through his efforts that the feud is resolved. Though Webb's decision to get involved doesn't at first seem logical, it's eventually explained, and meanwhile Short, as usual, packs a lot of plot twists and fascinating characters into his short book (among the best of the latter are Sheriff Wardecker, Wagon Mound's crippled lawman, and Drake Bannister, the smooth yet ruthless boss badman/rancher). With betrayals and revelations galore, it's a fast-paced, exciting read and would make a superior introduction to the author's work.

Reading this book reminded me why I enjoyed Luke Short's books so when I was a boy. This plot-twist laden and fast-paced shoot 'em up will have the reader on the edge of his seat as he burns through the pages of this well-told tale. Our hapless hero is hurrahed into a hanging (his own) before fate intervenes and he finds himself caught up in a range war between two long time rivals who both want him dead. Suffice it to say that in the end right overcomes might and no amount of treachery, double-dealing, outlawry or attempts on his life are enough to overcome the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our hero who saves the day, sells the ranch and gets the girl. My only complaint is with the very ending which should have occurred either a page and a half earlier or a page and a half later. Hasta la vista