Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles by Edward A. Grainger

Feb 03, 2013 Desiree reilly rated it 5 of 5 stars

he book is in the west and the year of the marshal who will keep the law and order for any one who want to pay them.They are going form one place to another cashes bad guys form west to north and east and south.

The marshal love his drink once in while sometime when he goes in the bar it get remarks and then and his partner who is black can settle it or shoot them and then collect the money for the guys.
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Cash is ambushed and injured and he kills some to them but the surprise is that the Marshal i...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Nigel Bird rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When you put up a title with ‘The Adventures Of’, I reckon you’re a brave author. Boy had those tales better do the business if you’re starting off with that.
Edward A Granger sure didn’t let me down with his work, unless leaving me needing to read more of them can be a crime laid at his door.
Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles work in a world that is familiar to me from old movies and legends. In some ways, that gives the author and advantage as with the merest hint of description I’m able to fill in...more When you put up a title with ‘The Adventures Of’, I reckon you’re a brave author. Boy had those tales better do the business if you’re starting off with that.
Edward A Granger sure didn’t let me down with his work, unless leaving me needing to read more of them can be a crime laid at his door.
Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles work in a world that is familiar to me from old movies and legends. In some ways, that gives the author and advantage as with the merest hint of description I’m able to fill in an entire 70mm frame. That suggests it was easy; I’d say it’s the opposite. It would have been so easy to overload the tales with the unnecessary and Granger gets this perfect.
Their worlds are the extremes, the panoramic open spaces of the landscape and the claustrophobia of bars and hotel rooms where there’s barely enough room to draw a gun.
Their internal worlds are also of extremes. Extreme males with a dash of sensitivity. Certainty in what they do versus a barrow-load of question marks. The need to do what a man has to do and the need to leave all morality on the side for a while as they take care of business.
Throughout the book there are biblical names. I’m not well-versed enough to try and attach meaning to Solomon and Delilah, Mary and Lazarus or Gideon, but I do think this world they all inhabit is a place where Old Testament and New Testament crash into each other like high-speed trains. Cash Laramie is from the eye-for-an-eye mould, yet at the same time he has compassion and a need to apply justice correctly. Poor fellow.
Packing a series of stories together like this gives the book much more weight than a simple binding of short stories. It’s like Block’s Hitman in that respect; instead of feeling like short pieces, I was left with a sense that I’d completed a novel as I’d spent so much time with the same characters.
There are all the ingredients you might imagine in Western tales and more.
The conversation is perfectly handled, lots said with hardly an opening of a mouth. Take this for an epitaph:
“What kind of marker did you leave?”
“Half the truth. Here lies +++++++++++. Fast gun and beloved son.”
or another:
‘1860 – 1882: RIP ++++++++++++ Loved by everyone ‘cept the dirty dog murderer who shot him down.’
Had me purring.
Another thing that demonstrates the writer’s skill is his description of the shoot-outs. He’s so matter-of-fact and brief. Where they might have been used as a culmination of a story, Granger just includes it like he might any other piece of the puzzle.
He’s also worked Cash into a multi-faceted character, even allowing him to show his hand as a detective now and then.
My advice to readers is that this is a real treat. An absolute joy of a read. A needs buying kind of book even at ten times the price you can get it for.
Go buy your ticket.
(less)

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Aug 22, 2011 ♥Xeni♥ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, western

This is a series of shorts featuring primarily Marshall Cash Laramie in a western setting. I will post my review of each story individually, first.

THE WIND SCORPION - I didn't like this story very much. Maybe a 2 star rating. I felt it flowed badly and there wasn't much logic at all to at all. Maybe I just don't know much about this time/culture, but I'd like to think that farmstead women, be they alone or not, don't just sleep with every Marshall (or man) that drops by. It didn't seem realistic...more This is a series of shorts featuring primarily Marshall Cash Laramie in a western setting. I will post my review of each story individually, first.

THE WIND SCORPION - I didn't like this story very much. Maybe a 2 star rating. I felt it flowed badly and there wasn't much logic at all to at all. Maybe I just don't know much about this time/culture, but I'd like to think that farmstead women, be they alone or not, don't just sleep with every Marshall (or man) that drops by. It didn't seem realistic to me, just another sad plot twist attempt.

KID EDDIE - A bit more fun... also a bit more typical. Kid Eddie says he didn't commit the crimes he is supposed to be executed for. But then while traveling back to the town where his trial is supposed to be held, he and Cash Laramie are ambushed. Afterwards Kid Eddie is gunned down due to trying to run and confessing to the murders, etc. Very typical... but I still sorta liked it. 3 stars.

MILES TO GO - This story features Gideon Miles as the main character. Somehow I like him better than Cash Laramie. He seems more dashing, and more about morality, than Cash. This story finally brought the lawmen's lifestyle and choices home to me. It makes more sense in my head now.

THE BONE ORCHARD MYSTERY - I really loved this story! 5 Stars! Sherlock Holmsy-type mystery to be solved, which Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles managed to do without too much bloodshed!

MELANIE - This was a really sad story. I never like to think about things like child abuse in general, or even specifically in a western era... but I was glad at the HEA ending this story had.

UNDER THE SUN(with Sandra Seamans) - Ah, I really loved this story too! It was a backwards-outlaw story, where the bad guy is really the good guy. "It was just an accidental killing, no need to hang the good Injun!" Still, it left me feeling pretty happy.

THE OUTLAW MARSHALL - The last story was really one of revenge. An earlier character had been lynched and our good Marshall Cash Laramie hunts him down and manages to get another outlaw in the same hand!

Conclusion: All in all pretty good works. Very western, but also much too short. I had expected a bit more in the way of storytelling and details... this is something that you could easily read with a 5th grade English class and have them analyze. Shame, since there were some good ideas here (none that were blazing, but some good ones.)
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Jun 11, 2011 Chris Rhatigan rated it 5 of 5 stars

In Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, Edward A. Grainger (aka David Cranmer) delivers seven satisfying stories that you shouldn't miss.

I'm not always the biggest fan of Westerns, but here the quality trumps any reservations about genre. Not to mention that Grainger skillfully crosses Western with noir and mystery (especially in The Outlaw Marshal, The Bone Orchard Mystery, and Kid Eddie), which makes for a tasty combination.

Grainger possesses a gift for characterization and one of the...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Sabrina Ogden rated it 5 of 5 stars

My father has always been a fan of westerns. And back in the day when most homes only held one television set you could always find us watching westerns when my father was home. You can laugh if you want, but Bonanza was actually one of my favorites and I had a huge crush on Little Joe. But since I'm all about the honesty here on my blog, it must be said that my heart, regardless of how small it may have been at the time, always belonged to Adam. When I was little I'd sit on the couch with my fa...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Randy rated it 5 of 5 stars

A collection of short stories featuring U. S. Marshalls Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles. Edward A. Grainger is the pseudonym of David Cranmer who edits the webzine BEAT TO A PULP as well as the anthology BEAT TO A PULP, ROUND ONE.

An excellent set of stories, two appearing here for the first time, the others at various venues.

Table of contnets:

THE WIND SCORPION

KID EDDIE

MILES TO GO

THE BONE ORCHARD MYSTERY

MELANIE

UNDER THE SUN(with Sandra Seamans)

THE OUTLAW MARSHALL

Cash Laramie is a U. S. Marshall. He...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Writing a review for this book is made difficult by the excellent forward provided by Chris F. Holm saying almost exactly what I’d like to say, but with far more eloquence than I’d manage. I’ll give it a go in my own simplistic way.

I don’t read cowboy stories normally. I haven’t watched a western in about twenty years. So why did I read this? If I see an author posting on Twitter and I like what they write there it follows that I will probably like their fiction too. It usually works out for me....more

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Feb 08, 2012 Pearce Hansen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Clint Eastwood country. What I admired as much as anything else in this book, was that it was unpretentious. Strong stories, simply told, without trying for affected language. This is a very CLEAN book, with short stories perfect for a coffee break or when you don't have much time to get your reading fix.

You can tell Edward had a lot of fun writing this, and that the milieu is one he cares about. As others have noted, the old west of the spaghetti westerns, of Clint Eastwood and the Man with No...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Mav rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you took a razor blade and ran it down a wet canvas half dripping with black ink, then smeared it into the white area, you’d get a good replica of the characters Edward Grainger draws out in Cash & Miles. The backdrop is late 1800’s. Times are harsh. A shot of whiskey doesn’t go far. Cash is the harbinger of the law, but he bears much more than this, he bears a conscience that is often at disagreement with the law. It’s this inner battle that carries the reader eagerly through the stories...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Tracy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Mark Twain already reviewed this when he wrote Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/HNS...). These stories, short as they are, are packed with cliches, wooden dialogue, generic descriptions (when descriptions are provided at all), and dull one-note characters. The writing is lazy first draft material, with confusing action scenes, poor word choice (much of which seems to be plucked at random from a thesaurus by someone with a poor vocabulary), and sloppy grammar...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Elizabeth A. rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have a confession to make. As a general rule, I don’t read Westerns. I find that too often the stories get lost in the author’s desire to provide the reader with every little period-accurate detail they’ve researched, and bogged down with unwieldy “cowboy” lingo in the dialog. And while that may appeal to some, it’s just not my cup of tea.

I have another confession to make. Edward A. Grainger, aka David Cranmer, is turning me into a convert. You see, Cranmer doesn’t write Westerns per se, he wr...more I have a confession to make. As a general rule, I don’t read Westerns. I find that too often the stories get lost in the author’s desire to provide the reader with every little period-accurate detail they’ve researched, and bogged down with unwieldy “cowboy” lingo in the dialog. And while that may appeal to some, it’s just not my cup of tea.

I have another confession to make. Edward A. Grainger, aka David Cranmer, is turning me into a convert. You see, Cranmer doesn’t write Westerns per se, he writes well-crafted stories with engaging characters that just happen to take place in the Old West. And he does it very, very well. Don’t get me wrong, the adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles are unquestionably Westerns, but Cranmer never loses sight of the real prize: character and story. And that makes all the difference in the world to this reluctant reader of Westerns.

It helps that Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, both U.S. Marshals, are charismatic and unique individuals. Laramie is known to display an unorthodox streak as questionable as the outlaws he hunts, his behavior often fueled by the approach to life that was ingrained in him having been raised by Native Americans. For his part, Miles brings the challenge of being one of the first black Marshals into play, showing how his status as a black man in the 1880s Old West can make both all the difference in the world and none whatsoever to how he does the job… often at the same time.

The seven stories in this collection run the gamut from straight-up action/adventure (“Kid Eddie”) to a genuine whodunit mystery (the very clever “The Bone Orchard Mystery”) to reflections upon complex societal issues and social mores (“Miles to Go,” “Melanie”). From collection opener “The Wind Scorpion” to closer “The Outlaw Marshal,” every one of them is worth the price of admission.

Normally I would recommend you get Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles if you are a fan of Westerns, but I figure if you are you’re probably already on-board. Instead, I actually recommend this collection to you if, like me, you are a reluctant reader of Westerns. I guarantee David Cranmer and his buddies Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles will change your mind.(less)

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Nov 30, 2011 Icy Sedgwick rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you see a book on Amazon with 50 5* reviews, you're expecting a good read. Thankfully, Edward A Grainger knows how to deliver. The first volume of the Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles is described as "western noir", and features seven short stories about two deputy U.S. Marshals working in 1880s Wyoming Territory. Cash Laramie is the rebel with a cause, the marshal raised by Arapahos and eager to see justice done, while Gideon Miles is one of the first African American marshals, ha...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Larry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: western, adult

Cash Laramie raised by very loving Arapahos is an outsider by culture. Gideon Miles is one of the first blacks in the Marshal service. Both men are highly regarded for their skill but looked down on for who they are. The stories reflect this disconnect. Each man does what he perceives as right. This is not to say that their actions are even remotely right. These tales are respectfully traditional western in style with dark crime and mortality tale over tones. Yes there are gunfights and bar braw...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Tmholland38 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was okay. It was a quick read. I understand that the vignettes were each supposed to touch on a different aspect of life in the Old West - treatment of women, view of Native Americans, child abuse, race relations, etc. but they were so abrupt that it lost a lot of impact. It felt like topics were really glossed over and it was hard to really get a sense of the characters. I would have much preferred one longer cohesive story that followed the marshalls on the trail on one outlaw and wo...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy reading the occasional traditional Western. Johnny Boggs and James Reasoner are among the contemporary practicing writers I admire. This rollicking collection of traditional Western short stories, then, is right up my alley. The narrative features two U.S. Marshal who are also partners, including the African-American Gideon Miles. "The Bone Orchard Mystery," a twisty, dirty tale, is probably my favorite. I like the brisk pace, lean prose, and hardboiled action, realistic in that such a j...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: westerns

A wonderful collection of seven western stories featuring Marshal Cash Laramie, who is sometimes called the Outlaw Marshal. Laramie has a little of Matt Dillon in him, but there's a lot more of Dirty Harry. Laramie is a true hero, the one who does what has to be done to protect the innocent rather than just doing what the law allows. His partner, Gideon Miles, is cut from the same cloth, although he is a black law officer in a difficult time.

I really enjoyed this collection and highly recommend...more

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May 31, 2012 Alle Wells rated it 5 of 5 stars

The “Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles” is a collection of short stories that take the reader back to the Wild West. U.S. Marshall Cash Laramie is a renegade, often referred to as the Outlaw Marshall. His mysterious past, having been raised by an Arapaho Indian stepmother, his endearing personality, and his willingness to bend the rules for the sake of justice is sure to make Cash one of my most beloved characters. Cash’s partner, Gideon Miles, is a fast sharp-shooter and an expert at...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Heath Lowrance rated it 4 of 5 stars

We seem to be in the beginning stages of a real resurgence of interest regarding Westerns. I couldn't begin to tell you why, but I'm thankful for it. My own interest in the genre is fairly recent as well, coinciding nicely with the new spike. Something in the water, I reckon. Or in the rotgut whiskey.
Riding the first wave of the Western resurgence is a fella we'll call Edward A. Grainger, coming full-throttle out of the stable with the insanely fun short story collection The Adventures of Cash L...more We seem to be in the beginning stages of a real resurgence of interest regarding Westerns. I couldn't begin to tell you why, but I'm thankful for it. My own interest in the genre is fairly recent as well, coinciding nicely with the new spike. Something in the water, I reckon. Or in the rotgut whiskey.
Riding the first wave of the Western resurgence is a fella we'll call Edward A. Grainger, coming full-throttle out of the stable with the insanely fun short story collection The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles.
Cash and Gideon are Marshalls in the town of Cheyenne in the late 1800's, a time when lawlessness ran rampant and only a few dedicated men stood tall and ready to defend law and justice--or, in the case of our heroes, at least justice. They're great characters, these two. Throwbacks, in a way, to the sort of steady and silent heroes you might remember from your youth: Shane, The Virginian, L'Amour's Sackett family... you get the idea. The kind of gun-totting hombres you'd want on your side with the chips are down.
So yeah, there's something charmingly old-fashioned about these stories, but Grainger is a smart enough writer to know that the modern reader needs something more than just a nostalgia trip, or a mythologizing of an era that's already been mythologized to hell and back. These stories do more than that; they also give us a real picture of the ugly violence and rampant racism of the time. With Gideon Miles, a black man wielding authority in a time when that was almost unheard of, we have a hero who is confident, realistic in his world view, and--often--the moral center of his world.
But the bulk of the stories in Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles focus on Cash--a decent and resourceful man with an incredibly strong sense of right and wrong. In the introduction, Grainger says the stories were inspired by Leone's terrific "spaghetti westerns", but the truth is he gives us characters much more fully developed than that, and in Cash we have a hero who is more obviously on the side of the angels than anyone in those morally murky films.
And I guess there's no point in being coy about it, as it's an open secret anyway--Grainger is the pen name of David Cranmer, editor of Beat to a Pulp. I say this just in case you had any doubts about picking this collection up. Cranmer is a guy with impeccable taste in stories, and he doesn't go any easier on his own work.
My personal favorites in Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles: "Kid Eddie", in which Cash must escort a charming but psychotic criminal back to Cheyenne to face justice (Cranmer predicted I'd like this one a lot, and he was right), "Melanie", which finds Cash at odds with a loutish wife-and-child abuser who can't be touched by the law, but--maybe--can still face justice at the hands of Cash Laramie, and "The Outlaw Marshall", where we see at last the lengths Cash is willing to go to in order to mete out justice--as the last story in the book, it's probably the most brutal, and shows us a side of Cash that Grainger had only hinted at before.
All in all, some great stuff. The episodic nature of the stories would lend themselves well to being a television show, a la The Rifleman, Stagecoach, Gunsmoke, etc...
Man, wouldn't that be great?
Anyway, buy this book. It's only .99 cents, for a good 100 bucks worth of Western high adventure(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Richard Philbrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not a big fan of westerns even though Lonesome Dove is one of my all-time favorites having read it three times and watched the Robert Duval movie at least that many times. I downloaded The Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles when it was a free book on Kindle. It was a bargain at twice the price. This collection of short stories is a quick read with likeable characters and interesting stories. There's nothing not to like in any of them.

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Jul 03, 2011 Paul Brazill rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you like westerns, you'll love The Adventures Of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles.

If you like crime fiction, you'll also be well served.

And if you like both genres, then this is certainly the book for you.

The stories in this collection are perfectly formed tales of the old west with a more modern slant. Cash and Gideon are Marshals, one white, one black. Men of honor dealing with the problems of violent and dangerous times. Every story is a gem but favorites are the hard-boiled noir of 'The O...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Nancy Silk rated it 5 of 5 stars

This collection of short tales of the Wild West take place in Wyoming. They are very well written with a modern theme of values, such as the story, "Melanie," which is heart wrenching but ends with a touch of tenderness. Everyone will enjoy these stories which all have a message and reflect the heart of the author. A must read; and get Vol II right now!

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Nov 01, 2012 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderfully written collection of westerns about a pair of lawmen unexpected; a marshal raised by Indians and a black lawman. The story stresses the importance of racial relations especially so soon after the civil war. These two work well together and not ashamed of their work relationship and friendship. Starting next book now.

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Jul 07, 2011 Thomas Pluck rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent story collection about two marshals, Cash Laramie and his partner Gideon Miles, and their adventures in the west. Not a revisionist western, but stories with a hard-edged pulp authority that gives them a modern edge without anachronism. Great reads, and characters you'll want to see plenty more of. If you like punchy fiction but can't get into a western, this will change your mind. And if you like westerns, these stories are the Josey Wales of the genre- the romance has faded, but t...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Martha D rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: western, kindle, 2012-challenge, series-read

Decent enough, not a big fan of Westerns but I love the pair in these stories, because it is a series of 'adventures' each broken into their own story. A half-breed Cash Laramie (Native American and White iirc) and Gideon Miles (a black man) are federal marshalls and fantastic at what they do.

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Aug 21, 2011 Alan Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime

This was my introduction to the characters of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, and I wasn't disappointed. A selection of short stories, that show the violence of the old west and the principles that the lawmen of that time held dear is well portrayed.

A highly recommended read.

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Mar 27, 2013 Mariano rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: western, short-stories

Didn't like it. It is a collection of western clichés with poorly developed characters and (most of the times) very predictable outcomes.
On the plus side, I got this and its follow up (vol. II) for free at the Kindle store, so there was no harm :-P

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Jan 17, 2012 Josh Stallings rated it 5 of 5 stars

What fun! I must admit I have always been a fan of western fiction. This is great stuff. Fast paced, wonderful tales. This is a great introduction to the genre. Read it.

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Dec 31, 2012 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: western

This is a collection of well-written Westerns. Both the main characters are interesting. No question that I'll be reading the next set of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles stories.

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Nov 28, 2011 Deanna Knippling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles is a western. So's Firefly. Highly recommended for fans of the latter. Lots of hard choices in the service of justice.

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Feb 15, 2012 Angela rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, western

I was expecting a good western. Instead I got a series of short stories and none of them were very good. Each one was just a cliche about western law men.

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