Trent lives by himself on a homestead in the wild west. He is content but lonely. When trouble comes to town in the form of King Bill Hale, who is trying to claim all the homesteader's property as his own, Trent has to decide whether he will reveal his true identity as a famous gunslinger in order to save his friends and neighbors from the evil Hales. One of my co-workers mentioned that she had a goal to read more books that appeal to men in order to be better at reader's reference. I thought it was a good goal, so I have been looking around for "masculine" literature I might try. I tried a James Patterson mystery, but the first scene was so racy I only lasted a few minutes. Then I thought of my own father. He went through a period when he was reading Louis L'Amour. I thought I would give it a try. I was very pleased that the book was pretty clean. The main character, Kilkenny, notices the "voluptuousness" of his girl friend, but they do no more than kiss. Most of the book is full of very cliche western scenes and events: the hero walks slowly into the tavern and orders a drink. The bad guy comes in and they say threatening things with a western drawl while the other customers run for cover, sure that a shootout is about to occur. (that kind of thing). The final shootout actually even happens at high noon. Every western stereotype is here. In a way it was such a rich display of the western tropes that I found it rather delightful. I couldn't find the actual publication date for this book but I think it was back in the 60's. (342 p.)
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