THE FIRST FAST DRAW by Louis L'Amour

A cut above. L'Amour put an extra effort into the writing and the characterization with this one. He's trying to deliver both the thrills of a western and the thoughtfulness of historical fiction and he makes it all work. Highly recommended.

P.S. This book upsets some readers because the protagonist Cullen Baker is based on a real-life historical figure who, it appears, was a little less than heroic. I didn't have any feelings about the real Cullen Baker before I read L'Amour's novel so the liberties he took didn't matter to me, but I guess I can sympathize a little when I recall how enraged I felt about George Custer's depiction in THEY DIES WITH THEIR BOOTS ON.



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