Sturdy western by Donald Hamilton, the author of the excellent (and today, I think somewhat underrated) Matt Helm spy series, features a rancher fresh out of Yuma (after serving a stretch for a crime he didn't commit) having problems fitting back into town.
Although we have the usual Western templates--the wise older man, the fiery woman, the young hothead, and so on--Hamilton writes clear-eyed and often cool-hearted prose. Mad River also features a rather startingly bloodthirsty denouement before all is set to rights.
I did not know Hamilton had written in the Western genre and found this outing highly agreeable. I nabbed this paperback for a shiny quarter at a flea market and craft bazaar on a sunny weekend outing.
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