Stamping Ground

Stamping Ground by Loren Estleman is another Page Murdock western and it's a good one. In this novel Murdock goes after a renegade called Ghost Shirt. All the usual Estleman flavor is here: tight writing, violence, believable characters. If I have any gripe it's how Estleman starts and finishes the book. He has his character Murdock start off by telling us that stories often start in the past before the people we know become involved. And then he goes into some heavy backstory. The ending is similar in that Murdock presents a laundry list of what happened to whom after the events he relates come to a close. I know what Estleman is trying to do, I just don't think he's successful. I'm old school. A story should have a specific beginning, middle and end. This novel drifts into the main story from the beginning and then drifts back out. I think it's a poor stylistic choice. To be fair, I'm not saying Estleman doesn't pull it off. Because he does. It's just irksome to me. Still, Stamping Ground is a good read. If you like Estleman (and I do) then you will certainly like this book.

This Western is probably only available in used bookstores, online book sales venues, or public libraries. It's worth tracking down. Loren D. Estleman is one of the best prose stylists in the business. STAMPING GROUND features his U.S. Marshal Page Murdock, a middle-aged Civil War vet with a limp. Page is sent to the Dakotas to capture and bring to justice the young firebrand chieftain Ghost Shirt. Accompanying Page are stolid Marshal Hudspeth and the half-breed scout Pere Jac. Their adventures, including the apprehension of Ghost Shirt, unravel at a bullet-fast pace. The realistic descriptions of landscape and the gritty characters make this Western a superior read than most I've tried. Page is a sympathetic figure who doesn't take himself seriously, only his assigned mission.