Wednesday, January 29, 2020

#7: Contract in Cartridges by Ben Elliot

A gun-hand trying to retire gets pushed into a gunfight he doesn't want, and when a manhunt ensues he ends up recuperating at a struggling ranch run by a brother and sister.  When he falls for the sister, and a nearby rancher begins to crowd the land, he straps his guns on again in Ben Elliot's Contract in Cartridges.

This was on the flip side of an Ace Double with Don't Cross My Line by Tom West,  an author I wanted to read.  But at that point I didn't realize that Ben Elliot was actually Ben Haas, who wrote two tough-minded series I really enjoyed, Fargo and Sundance (as John Benteen).

By any name, this is a really great western, and begins to almost slip into noir territory towards the end, when the various relationships, and the lies they have told each other, begin to come out.  It has a downbeat but very rewarding ending.

I was glad I picked this one up at a used bookstore, and it continued to cement Ben Haas' reputation as a top western writer in my mind.  Recommended for fans.

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