When wealthy Abe Bridge, owner of the fabulous Idaho mountain resort, Gunstock, hired Farris Lea as a hunting guide, he didn’t know that Lea was actually Buckskin Frank Leslie, the fastest gun alive. And Buckskin didn’t know he’d wind up trading lead with a robber baron who aimed to swindle Bridge out of a fortune in silver ore.
Though Buckskin was loyal to the man who’d hired him, Bridge’s lovely daughter Sarah was another reason for his remaining at Gunstock. In spite of the allure of a lusty kitchen wench and the erotic expertise of a beautiful German countess, it was for Sarah that Buckskin risked revealing his true identity and facing a hangman’s noose, as he was forced to use his murderous gun skills once more!
Gunstock is a resort for the very rich, and guests come from all over the world for a good time and to do some hunting, but this has very little to do with the plot. Most of the storyline revolves around Buckskin trying to keep secret who he is and how good he is with a gun. This is something he’s been very successful at until the silver ore is discovered and the killings begin. It seems obvious as to who is behind the murders, and soon Buckskin is trying to stay alive and protect the resort owner.
Early on we discover just what Buckskin will do to keep his real identity a secret. Trouble comes when news gets out that a gunman has been hired to do away with Lea and if that isn’t enough of a problem Ned Buntline arrives at the resort, and he will certainly recognize Lea as Buckskin Frank Leslie.
The author keeps the plot moving forward well, throwing in a few twists and surprises, including a bloody fight with some Cossacks. Buckskin takes a lot of physical punishment and soon wants to avenge the death of a maid. Some of the fights are hard-hitting and quite brutal – I thought the last confrontation between Buckskin and the hired gun was particularly effective.
Buckskin is an adult series so there is a lot of very explicit sex throughout the story, each act taking place over numerous pages. Occasionally extremely bad language is used too.
Roy LeBeau, a pseudonym used by Mitchell Smith, takes liberties with the real-life story of Buckskin Frank Leslie, but does include some true facts about him in this fictional tale that for me turned out to be a fun read.
That first sentence in the description was rough to read through. Five commas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice review! Only six Buckskin books were published in Swedish translation, all in 1991. Think they all are very good! Frank Leslie is no doubt an interesting character.
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