The Derby Man

Darby Buckingham is a big man; he's also a top selling author of Westerns. But he's had enough of fiction, wants to write about the real people of the West. So he travels from New York to Wyoming in search of Sheriff Cather. Cather has settled a range war, thwarted four bank robberies, drawn against all the era's legendary quick-draws. He is a real frontier legend and his story is begging to be told, as only Buckingham knows how. But Buckingham will find himself living the tale instead of writing it! Gary McCarthy presents the reader with a different kind of hero in Darby Buckingham. A man, who's overweight, wears a suit and a Derby hat. His appearance makes him the butt of many jokes. Trouble is for those who pick on him he also knows how to look out for himself. The story is well told and has lots of humour as well as violent action. Darby has a number of mishaps but he's capable of laughing at himself, which is one of the reasons I found him so appealing. It was good to read about a hero that isn't the usual handsome fast-draw artist. I'll definitely be hunting out the follow up books about the Derby Man. Well worth a look.