Monday 14 July 2008

The Gunsmith #300

THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW 
as by J.R. Roberts
Jove, Dec. 2006

When Clint Adams gets caught in a town that makes money off murdering strangers like him, he finds an unlikely ally in a lightning-handed shootist known as Slocum. Luckily, they both get out alive. Unluckily for the Gunsmith, when he heads for Denver, he finds himself a wanted man. But not for murder. A hard-nosed deputy federal marshal by the name of Custis Long needs his help to bring in Aaron Caulfield, whose vile depredations upon men, women, and children are the stuff of nightmares.

Robert Randisi, writing as J.R. Roberts, gives his reader another dialouge driven, quick to read, fast paced book full of exciting situations. The short chapter format - each chapter is often only three or four pages long - is used to switch easily from character to character, both good and bad.

To celebrate reaching book #300 Robert Randisi teams Clint Adams up with Jove’s other two main western heroes, Slocum and Longarm. By involving Adams with them in seperate incidents the book comes across as two stories in one binding, the longer story featuring Longarm. The charactization of both Slocum and Longarm is very true of them in their own series.

Western fans, especially readers of The Gunsmith series - and indeed the Slocum and Longarm series - should find this to be an entertaining read.

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