BAD NIGHT AT THE CRAZY BULL
By John Dyson
Hale, February 2015
After a night of gambling and hooch-spiked drinking at the Crazy Bull Hotel, young rancher Glen Stone wakes up to find himself in bed with Katrina, one of the hotel’s gaudy-girls, who informs him that he has won her as his lawful wedded wife (courtesy of a local judge) on the previous evening.
With Katrina protesting volubly that she has no desire to perform the chores expected of a rancher’s wife, the pair set off for Glen’s spread along the banks of the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. There he has to face the bitter reproaches of his long-time intended, young Susan Cousins, and the wrath of her rancher father, Abe.
Katrina’s presence at the ranch attracts the attentions of some of her old admirers, among them some roaming Comancheros, and Zane Hollister, an ageing road agent who hope to set up as a roadhouse owner on his ill-gotten loot. He, in turn, is being pursued by tough old Sheriff Matt Alison, a lawman who tends to shoot and then wish he’d asked some questions first.
Will the arrival of horse preacher Repentance Rathbone, man of God but also very much a man of the world, vanquish the mayhem and restore harmony to the lives of the ranchers in Wyoming?
This book starts in a humorous tone giving the impression that it could be a comedy western, but as the story progresses the amusing conversations and scenes fade into the background – they don’t disappear completely – and the book becomes a more action-packed read.
There’s a fine mix of characters, from the good although flawed Stone, the one you’ll feel sorry for (Susan), those you’ll love to hate (Katrina), the out and out bad guys with Hollister being the man on the top of the heap here, the man of intrigue (Rathbone), and others such as the old lawman Alison and a slimy lawyer, Levick. All their lives will combine as the story races towards its final showdown.
I’d class this book as a traditional western that is predictable in how it plays out, although Dyson does have a small twist that emerges near the end. Dyson being an English author writing westerns for an English publisher does include a number of British terms which will jar a bit with those of us who are used to reading American authors. I was also surprised at how much erotic (not explicit) imagery Dyson wrote into this story as that is usually something I don’t expect to find in Black Horse Westerns.
John Dyson wrote around fifty westerns for Hale, which includes the Black Pete Bowen series, mainly under his own name but also used the pseudonym of Henry Remington. I’ve read a handful of his books and find him a bit hit or miss. Bad Night at The Crazy Bull fell into the category of a fun entertaining read but it didn’t make me want to rush out and find another of his books anytime soon.
