LONGARM #436:
LONGARM AND THE MODEL PRISONER
By Tabor Evans
Jove, March 2015
Mild-mannered postal thief Brian Henry is not about to give Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long any trouble on the ride back to Denver for trail. After being double-crossed by a tantalizing temptress who took his money, Brian is good and licked.
In fact, when Longarm is pistol-whipped by highwaymen, it’s his polite prisoner who comes to his aid and makes no attempt to escape as the lawman rides off to rescue a beautiful woman kidnapped by the desperadoes.
But when the gunsmoke clears, will this be Longarm’s last showdown?
Sadly this is the last Longarm book. The series first appeared on the bookshelves way back in 1978 and a new book has been published monthly ever since. Alongside the regular books there are 29 giant editions too. Longarm also made it into film.
So does Longarm go out in style? Checking my records I was shocked to discover it’s been a couple of years since I last read a Longarm book, so this one came as a bit of a surprise when I discovered just how much sex it contained. Maybe this was an intentional inclusion to echo the amount that featured in the series when it first came out?
The blurb above pretty much outlines the story completely. It’s a straight-forward fast paced read that does bring about an end to Long’s career as a lawman. Personally I’d have thought Vail would have fought harder to keep Longarm on the payroll but still the reason for Custis handing in his badge is how I imagined it would end.
There’s none of Longarm’s trademark sayings included and he does speak a little differently to how I’m used to reading his dialogue but different writers have always put their style into the books making it very easy to work out that Tabor Evans is a pseudonym behind which more than ten authors have written over the years, including some of the biggest names in western fiction.
So, perhaps not as strong a finish to the series as I would have liked, but the story was entertaining and I enjoyed reading it.
8 comments:
Do you know the name of the movie and if it is available?
It's just called LONGARM. Was released in 1988. About the only thing used from the books is his name and that he has an eye for the ladies. He doesn't even have a mustache.
John Terlesky plays Longarm. If I remember right no one else from the series is in it.
Have no idea if it's available on DVD etc. Rarely shown on TV and once seen I doubt you'd want to watch it again if you're a fan of the books.
Any idea who wrote this last one?
Sorry Roy, I don't.
Shame to see the end of this great series
Just finished reading the series, all 436 pus the giant editions. They were mostly pretty accurate from the historical value.
love the shoot em-ups. they were like a fix. But the way it all ended could have been a lot better. Thought it was kind of "chintzy."
He could have woke up as he has done many times before and realized it was only a dream.
Catalog of Copyright Entries says that this one (like the one before that) was written by Frank Roderus.
Anyone know if there’s a critical review of all (or many) of the episodes ?
Some are so much better than others.
Post a Comment