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sassyporcupine's review
2.0
I was expecting a good western. Instead I got a series of short stories and none of them were very good. Each one was just a cliche about western law men.
chaghi's review
1.0
Didn't like it. It is a collection of western clichés with poorly developed characters and (most of the times) very predictable outcomes.
On the plus side, I got this and its follow up (vol. II) for free at the Kindle store, so there was no harm :-P
On the plus side, I got this and its follow up (vol. II) for free at the Kindle store, so there was no harm :-P
cj_jones's review
3.0
I bought both volume I and II and they've been sitting in my to-read pile long enough that they can drive a car now. And I found it... uninvolving. Short stories don't have a word to waste, every one of them has to punch its weight. Most of these stories read like longer stories that got cut off early, or shed a lot of their substance to make themselves fit. Our two main characters probably have flaws, but we didn't really have time to get into that. They do lots of rugged manly things, but they do them at times with a jarringly modern mindset. All in all, I probably won't read volume II.
xeni's review
3.0
This is a series of shorts featuring primarily Marshall Cash Laramie in a western setting. I will post my review of each story individually, first.
THE WIND SCORPION - I didn't like this story very much. Maybe a 2 star rating. I felt it flowed badly and there wasn't much logic at all to at all. Maybe I just don't know much about this time/culture, but I'd like to think that farmstead women, be they alone or not, don't just sleep with every Marshall (or man) that drops by. It didn't seem realistic to me, just another sad plot twist attempt.
KID EDDIE - A bit more fun... also a bit more typical. Kid Eddie says he didn't commit the crimes he is supposed to be executed for. But then while traveling back to the town where his trial is supposed to be held, he and Cash Laramie are ambushed. Afterwards Kid Eddie is gunned down due to trying to run and confessing to the murders, etc. Very typical... but I still sorta liked it. 3 stars.
MILES TO GO - This story features Gideon Miles as the main character. Somehow I like him better than Cash Laramie. He seems more dashing, and more about morality, than Cash. This story finally brought the lawmen's lifestyle and choices home to me. It makes more sense in my head now.
THE BONE ORCHARD MYSTERY - I really loved this story! 5 Stars! Sherlock Holmsy-type mystery to be solved, which Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles managed to do without too much bloodshed!
MELANIE - This was a really sad story. I never like to think about things like child abuse in general, or even specifically in a western era... but I was glad at the HEA ending this story had.
UNDER THE SUN(with Sandra Seamans) - Ah, I really loved this story too! It was a backwards-outlaw story, where the bad guy is really the good guy. "It was just an accidental killing, no need to hang the good Injun!" Still, it left me feeling pretty happy.
THE OUTLAW MARSHALL - The last story was really one of revenge. An earlier character had been lynched and our good Marshall Cash Laramie hunts him down and manages to get another outlaw in the same hand!
Conclusion: All in all pretty good works. Very western, but also much too short. I had expected a bit more in the way of storytelling and details... this is something that you could easily read with a 5th grade English class and have them analyze. Shame, since there were some good ideas here (none that were blazing, but some good ones.)
THE WIND SCORPION - I didn't like this story very much. Maybe a 2 star rating. I felt it flowed badly and there wasn't much logic at all to at all. Maybe I just don't know much about this time/culture, but I'd like to think that farmstead women, be they alone or not, don't just sleep with every Marshall (or man) that drops by. It didn't seem realistic to me, just another sad plot twist attempt.
KID EDDIE - A bit more fun... also a bit more typical. Kid Eddie says he didn't commit the crimes he is supposed to be executed for. But then while traveling back to the town where his trial is supposed to be held, he and Cash Laramie are ambushed. Afterwards Kid Eddie is gunned down due to trying to run and confessing to the murders, etc. Very typical... but I still sorta liked it. 3 stars.
MILES TO GO - This story features Gideon Miles as the main character. Somehow I like him better than Cash Laramie. He seems more dashing, and more about morality, than Cash. This story finally brought the lawmen's lifestyle and choices home to me. It makes more sense in my head now.
THE BONE ORCHARD MYSTERY - I really loved this story! 5 Stars! Sherlock Holmsy-type mystery to be solved, which Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles managed to do without too much bloodshed!
MELANIE - This was a really sad story. I never like to think about things like child abuse in general, or even specifically in a western era... but I was glad at the HEA ending this story had.
UNDER THE SUN(with Sandra Seamans) - Ah, I really loved this story too! It was a backwards-outlaw story, where the bad guy is really the good guy. "It was just an accidental killing, no need to hang the good Injun!" Still, it left me feeling pretty happy.
THE OUTLAW MARSHALL - The last story was really one of revenge. An earlier character had been lynched and our good Marshall Cash Laramie hunts him down and manages to get another outlaw in the same hand!
Conclusion: All in all pretty good works. Very western, but also much too short. I had expected a bit more in the way of storytelling and details... this is something that you could easily read with a 5th grade English class and have them analyze. Shame, since there were some good ideas here (none that were blazing, but some good ones.)
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