Review of "Guild," by Edward Gorman

 Review of

Guild, by Edward Gorman ISBN 0871315211

Five out of five stars

There is a resolution, but it is not a happy one

 Leo Guild is an ex-lawman that is now a bounty hunter. He is in the process of bringing Maloney into a town called Danton and he is hot, dusty, tired and ready to rest after he makes his delivery. When they arrive, Maloney asks if he can have one last beer and Guild, thirsty himself, buys a bucket and they share it before Maloney is taken to jail.

 The town has been run by Mason Cord, but his son Frank has generally run his businesses into bankruptcy. Frank has a wife and children, but he is really married to gambling and other vices. Therefore, there is a desperation in Frank as he tries to cover himself any way he can. Unwilling to pay any debt that he can avoid, there is a confrontation with a stage magician and gambler named Earle and Earle ends up dead by unknown hands.

 What makes this story go is the many supporting characters that are all unique. There is the fallen angel Annie, newspaper publisher Ruby, Sheriff Cornell Baines who is a bit of a fallen hero, the criminal Maloney and a gang of Frank Cord’s henchmen. Like most of the western novels by Gorman, Guild emerges at the end but somewhat more damaged than when the story began. Some of the characters you like the most do not survive the gunplay. It is storyteller Ed Gorman at his best.

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