Monday 22 September 2008

The Trailsman #6

DAKOTA WILD
as by Jon Sharpe
Signet, May 1981

Hired by prim schoolteacher Karen Fisher to guide her two wagons of students through one of the most violent territories in the West, it wasn’t long before Fargo learned the truth about the twelve youngsters. Soon it wasn’t just them that posed problems as an army of vicious buffalo hunters saw them as easy pickings. And if they survived that there was a double-cross waiting at their destination...

For anyone wanting to find out about Fargo’s past then this book contains lots of information. It tells how Fargo came to be called Skye Fargo and of his quest for revenge.

Fargo is portrayed as a tough character who doesn’t pull the punches to spare anyone’s feelings. We also find out that Fargo has a mean streak in him as vicious as any of the badmen he comes up against. Surprisingly for an early entry into the series it’s sixty odd pages before Fargo indulges in any adult entertainment.

The book moves at a fast pace and offers all the action expected from a Trailsman book although the mystery elements, that many books in this series contain, are almost non-existent.

Somewhat predictable but still worth a look.

2 comments:

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

The cover illustration reminds me of Clint Eastwood. So many novels have covers where the main character looks Eastwoodish. This one reminds me of Josey Wales era Eastwood.

Steve M said...

Yeap, definately agree. I reckon western cover artists have more images of Eastwood than an other western star to make their painting from.