This Western yarn was the other side of an Ace Double from Ray Hogan's Panhandle Pistolero (reviewed earlier) and was the first book I read from prolific writer Nelson Nye. The cover promises a "lead pay-off for a tin star in this silver town," which in and of itself is hard to resist.
But a bit hard to live up to. Nye writes this one in a first-person dialect as young, hotheaded Arnie Page drifts into town looking for adventure and promptly gets off a lucky shot at the town's top gun. Suddenly Arnie is the new town marshal, and he spends most of the rest of the book's brief page count trying to keep from getting killed while helping out a fiery redhead (as if Westerns boast any other kind).
Agreeable enough, but not much to it, and your mileage may vary with Nye's dialect as Arnie uses his shootin' irons 'gainst a bunch of owlhoots and sidewinders. I bought this one for a shiny quarter at a library book sale. I have a couple more that feature Nelson Nye's work, so I will see what I think as I work my way thr0ugh them.
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