Review of "Dark Trail," by Ed Gorman

 Review of

Dark Trail, by Ed Gorman, ISBN 0871316358

Five out of five stars

Unusual twist on the classic gunfight

 Leo Guild unexpectedly encounters his former wife Sarah, she left him to run off with a gunfighter named Frank Evans. Sarah tells Leo that Frank has now taken up with a young woman named Beth, and her former boyfriend is a younger gunfighter named Ben Rittenauer. As a consequence, Rittenauer has vowed to kill Evans.

 Strong feelings are still present between Guild and Sarah, yet she remains devoted to Evans, even though she does not hesitate to use Guild. The people in town treat the two gunfighters as rock stars and it seems inevitable that they will face off in a duel. That becomes certain when a local cattle baron wants to create a spectacle right out of ancient Rome, a gladiatorial contest between the two gunfighters with $10,000 in cash to the one who survives. Despite Guild’s attempt to prevent the contest, both men agree, and the word is spread, leading to thousands of socially prominent people showing up for the spectacle.

 While the climax of the story is the gunfight, this is actually a story about unrequited love of a person where the love is misguided. Both the men and women are essentially of questionable emotional character, yet it makes for an interesting story. The outcome of the battle is very well handled, and the result is consistent with the moral ambiguity of the characters. I found it difficult to put it down and read it in less than a day.

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