Gold Fury

by James Gordon White

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 1993

A million dollars in stolen Yankee gold – and only Laura Canby knew where her father had hidden it. Easygoing drifter Ben Harper wasn’t looking for trouble when he helped a beautiful lady in distress, but he ended up in a scorching desert with Laura and some ill-sorted companions: Jason Hearn, a slick con man with a lightning draw, Adam Winston, an unscrupulous ex-Union major, and Captain Randall, an ex-Confederate officer and gentleman turned outlaw. After fighting Mexican bandits and hostile Indians, they arrive at a final showdown, where gold-lust turns men into vicious killers, and the only way to survive is kill or be killed.

Gold Fury is an extremely fast moving and action packed tale filled with well-drawn characters that make this book impossible to put down until the end is reached.

White starts the story gently, even injecting a humorous scene when Harper first meets Laura, this soon leads to a moment of brutal violence and from then on the action doesn’t let up.

As all the various parties attempting to find the missing gold come together, White creates an air of mistrust; the feeling that all will turn on each other the moment the gold is discovered. White also hints that all these people may not be who they say they are, thus adding further intrigue to the tale.

Having read a few other books by White I was expecting an exciting read and that was exactly what I got from Gold Fury, which means I wouldn’t hesitate for one moment in recommending his work.