LAW OF THE LAND - Elmer Kelton


 In the 1950's (and a few decades prior) it was pretty easy to find and read some short western fiction if that was your literature of choice. There were scores of western pulps. Today, western readers are generally limited to a few publishers of western novels by a very few western writers.

Law of the Land is a collection of short western fiction by Elmer Kelton, an author whose works have spanned many decades - from 1948 ("There's Always Another Chance" originally published in Ranch Romances) to 2010 ("The Ghost of Two Forks" originally published in Ghost Towns, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis).  That's an incredible period of work for anyone!

I enjoy reading western fiction (I think I'm among a dying breed) and enjoy short fiction, so a book like this is very much appreciated.  That said, everything included in this collection is very well written and an enjoyable read and at the same time, nothing here stands out as being exceptional.  This is exactly the kind of book I might select or recommend for a vacation read.  They can be read with a limited amount of available reading time.

What makes each of these stories work is that they are about people. In every story, an individual stands out and rises up to solve an issue.  These people are clearly drawn and seem so real and act in ways we expect people to react.

This book contains the following:

"The Fugitive Book"
"Jailbreak"
"Biscuits for a Bandit"
"There's Always Another Chance"
"Born to be Hanged"
"O'Malley's Wife"
"In the Line of Duty"
"Relics"
"North of the Big River"
"The Ghost of Two Forks"
"Lonesome Ride to Pecos"
"Apache Patrol"
"The Last Indian Fight in Kerr County"
"Uncle Jeff and the Gunfighter"
"Sellout"
"Die by the Gun"

Looking for a good book? Law of the Land by Elmer Kelton is a really good collection of short, western fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Law of the Land: Stories of the Old West

author: Elmer Kelton

publisher: Forge Books

ISBN: 1250768993

hardcover, 320 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more