This is the first of the Kilkenny trilogy, and in it we are treated to something more than standard Western fare. Lance Kilkenny is a gunfighter by necessity, not choice, and when he comes to the aid of a friend caught in the beginnings of a range war he's expecting to get out as quickly as possible. But a mystery behind a series of murders complicates things, as well as the beautiful Nita.. ( )

I can finally say that I've read a Louis L'Amour book! This wasn't a bad western, but I haven't read too much in the genre to compare it to. This standalone follows Lance Kilkenny as he comes into town to hep a friend out. He's known as the fastest gunmen in the west, but most don't even know what he looks like because he never stays in any place long. He discovers that his friend Mort Davis needs help securing a waterhole from two wealthy cattleman who are claiming it as their own. As the bodies start piling up, it appears that a full on range war is about to engulf the whole territory, if only Kilkenny could keep his mind on work and his thoughts off the local saloon owner.Fast paced and quick, there is a small mystery that gives resolved in the end and lots of gunfights and stolen kisses from pretty women. Forgettable but fun. ( )

Lance Kilkenny never wanted a reputation as a gunfighter, but it was thrust upon him by his own skill and circumstances in which he kept emerging as the last man standing. He tries to live a quiet life, but when his friend Mort Davis gets caught in the middle of a range war, Kilkenny isn't about to walk away. Mort saved his life once, and Kilkenny doesn't desert his friends.

It's not great prose (e.g. L'Amour has the maddening habit of calling his protagonist both "Lance" and "Kilkenny," sometimes a paragraph apart). The story is simple and trope-filled. The primary antagonist might as well be wearing a black hat; I knew who he was many pages before Kilkenny figures it out. However, raised on John Wayne (both the 1930s B-movies and the big-studio classics), I'm a lifelong sucker for every last one of these tropes. Kilkenny is a tough, honorable man of the West with a hint of mysterious past, a careful way with words, a whole lot of survival competence, and a woman who'll be pining for him (presumably until Book 2). Looking forward to that one. ( )

This is the first book by Louis L'Amour that I read. It led to many, many more. I especially like the Sackett series. ( )

Wire is going up in Texas. Barbwire, and it'll mean a war. For small rancher Mort Davis it may spell the end of everything he's worked for. The big ranchers on either side are fixing to go to war - winner take all, including his property. He needs help, and Kilkenny owes him a favor....

One of my favorite L'Amour books as a kid, it reads a bit differently from an adult perspective but I still revisit it every now and then. ( )