I had never heard of STEVEN C LAWRENCE so I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. Turns out NIGHT OF THE GUNMAN is a doggone good read. I will definitely be looking for more by Steven C Lawrence.
The story opens with the funeral of the town’s longtime sheriff. OLD JACK BENT had been the town’s sheriff for 16 years and was well-liked. He had hired MATT DONOVAN four years earlier as his deputy to help him tame the wilder elements of the town during its trail driving heydays. Now that the sheriff’s gone and the trail driving days are behind them, the town council don’t feel they need a “quick gun” who commands a higher pay so they don’t want Donovan as sheriff.
Instead, when they realized he was dying, the town council sent for the sheriff’s son JOHNNY BENT to be their new sheriff. Despite the fact that Bent had a falling out with this father before hitting the trail five years earlier, they are hopeful he will be much like his father. Until election time, Donovan is serving as the sheriff with the expectation that Bent will most likely replace him. In the meantime, they insist Donovan take Bent on as a deputy.
Unbeknownst to the town council, Bent has been riding the outlaw trail with the NATE DRAGO gang. In addition, the minute he heard his father was dying, he started planning to rob the town’s bank. He views being a lawman the perfect cover. He can keep an eye on Donovan and be in a good position to kill him, if necessary.
The bank robbery doesn’t quite go as planned. The Drago gang gets away with the money in the vault, but they kill the banker and Nate Drago’s kid brother is seriously wounded by a gunshot from Sheriff Donovan’s gun. They aren’t able to keep ahead of the posse and so Drago’s kid brother is captured and taken back to town to the doctor’s office and then later moved to the jail.
The gang circles back and the rest of NIGHT OF THE GUNMAN is spent with the gang holed up in the saloon and Drago and Bent plotting how to get Drago’s kid brother out of jail.
Things get complicated when one of Drago’s men is captured and another one is seriously wounded in a gunfight. Then Bent has second thoughts about hitting the outlaw trail again. He wants his share of the loot and to help Drago get his kid brother out of jail, but he also wants the sheriff position and the he receives from the townspeople. On top of that, he wants Sheriff Donovan’s fiance SUSAN WELLS. He makes a deal with Drago to keep his involvement with the robbery and the gang a secret and plans to kill Sheriff Donovan.
Our lead character, Matt Donovan isn’t entirely comfortable with Bent. Some sixth sense and subtle clues have him distrusting Old Jack Bent’s son. He has no solid evidence to back up his suspicions but he keeps Bent close and watches and listens to everything he does and says. This causes tension and eventually a fight between him and Wells. She grew up with Bent and even dated him when they were younger. She considers him a friend and doesn’t understand Donovan’s distrust or why Donovan won’t ask the townsmen for help fighting Drago.
The townspeople favor Bent more and more as the story progresses which, coupled with Donovan’s suspicions, causes some tension between him and the town council. Bent’s subtle hints that Donovan may not be a good sheriff doesn’t help any. And of course, his special insight, due to his role with the gang, gives him an extra edge over Sheriff Donovan, making him look more confident and capable.
The whole town is on ‘lockdown’ with Drago and his much reduced gang holed up in the saloon with his hostages and Donovan holed up in the jailhouse with two key witnesses to the robbery, Bent and the jailhouse keeper. They try to get food into the jailhouse several times but are unsuccessful. The mercantile owner wouldn’t open the doors because he’s afraid of retaliation; for good reason. And Donovan doesn’t want Wells to bring food from her restaurant because he doesn’t want Drago to know of his connection to her.
A further complication develops when Drago’s kid brother die. Bent and Donovan both agree it’s best to keep the information from Drago. Donovan’s reasons are to keep Drago from taking revenge on the whole town. Bent’s reasons are to make sure he gets his part of the loot and Drago doesn’t kill him for not getting his brother out of there sooner.
Things come to a head when Drago sets the doctor’s house on fire. Donovan decides it’s time to lead Drago out of the town and away from it’s citizens. He tells Drago he’s transferring the kid and the other prisoner to another town. He grabs some horses and a wagon and puts the now dead Drago kid in the wagon. By this time, he knows Bent is in cahoots with Drago so he puts Bent in the driver’s seat with no gun.
The rest of the book is about his race out of town and the subsequent gunfight with Drago in the hills. After the fighting is over, the townspeople, with Wells in the lead, traipse into the hills to see if anyone survived the gunbattle.
Definitely a book worth reading again.
 |
| Back Cover - Leisure Book (1974) |
Cigars lit up: 2
Pipe: 1
Gunplay: 6
Bushwhacking: 2
Murder: 1
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have a comment?