To Kill the Valko Kid

By Michael D. George

Hale, May 2013

Retired marshal Clem Everett rides into Sioux City a few moments after the infamous bounty hunter Johnny Sunset arrived and it was not long before Clem discovers that the man known as The Sunset Kid is only there to claim the reward money on his old pal Valko.

From an arrangement made way back, Clem knows Valko is due to appear in the city that night. The clock is ticking towards midnight and there is no way to warn his friend that the deadliest bounty hunter in the West is intent on gunning him down. Time is up for the Valko kid….

Michael D. George is a prolific writer of westerns under his own name and a handful of pseudonyms. Most of his work under his own name are parts of series, and this is the fifth Valko book. The Sunset Kid has also appeared in a book of his own, so this one really will have follows of the authors work wondering who will come out victorious and whether either, or both, will die.

I own both the Sunset Kid book and other Valko books, but have never got around to reading them and did have slight reservations about jumping in here as I wondered if it would spoil my enjoyment of the earlier books. Yes, the author includes some of the Valko Kid’s backstory to explain how he knows Clem Everett but that didn’t ruin anything for me, more made me want to dig out those older books and read the full story.

One thing I like about Michael D. George’s writing is his ability to paint vivid imagery with his descriptive passages, particularly of scenes and atmosphere. He also seems to enjoy giving his characters colourful names, such as those of the two main protagonists, The Valko Kid and the similarly named The Sunset Kid. This book also features one more, a man known as The Shadow – and to say any more about him would spoil the book for anyone else, although if you’ve read any of the previous Valko books you’ve probably met him before.

For fans of Michael D. George, in particular his Valko Kid books, this is one not to miss. Anyone else who enjoys fast moving action-packed westerns should also find this to be an entertaining read.

Officially released today make sure you grab a copy as soon as possible as BHW tend to sell out very quickly.