| After being shot in a bungled bank
robbery, Arch Bowman, infamous rapist and killer, has a 'moment of clarity' and resolves to devote the balance of his life to settling a piece of unfinished business. The unlucky target of his vigour for justice Bowman-style is mild-mannered farmer Walt
Canaday. On the day Bowman and his gang ride into Freedom Rock, the town near Walt's farm, Walt has come in to meet his potential new bride Ellie. She has travelled from Minnesota to meet Walt, with a view to marriage if they get along in person as well
as they did in correspondence. But Walt, Ellie, and Freedom Rock are soon plunged into hell at the hands of Bowman and his gang. "Back With A Vengeance" is the kind of masterfully written Western that would have fit perfectly alongside
Westerns of the Golden Age; and indeed would have enjoyed numerous reprints since. Glenn Lockwood (David Whitehead) maintains a steady hand on the reins, generating a tension-filled story that barrels along with impressive fluency. The value of a genuine
page-turner may seem a trifling thing to point out, but I think we've all read our share of Westerns where we struggle to keep up with the story, to bring some kind of meaning to what is going on. This is never so of "Back With A Vengeance";
the fact it is a thrilling page-turner should be considered the strongest commendation. Moreover, Lockwood pitches the novel perfectly in relation to its sub-genre--it is basically a traditional Western--while imbuing it with a clear and welcome
contemporary flavour. Quite what this flavour is, I'm not sure; it may be a certain visuality to the storytelling, which is perhaps an effect of our predominantly visual era. At any rate, "Back With A Vengeance" earns its place in that great
corpus of rock solid, thrilling Westerns one always bears in mind when seeking 'more books like that'. |
