Overkill

Sundance #1

by John Benteen

Fiction: They called him Sundance. A big man with the bronzed face of a Cheyenne and a mane of yellow hair. He had ranged from Canada to Mexico, from the Mississippi to the Shining Mountains and west to the Pacific. He could take any man apart with rifle, pistol, knife-or Indian-style with bow, arrows, lance and tomahawk. He was a professional fighting man and no job was too tough if the price was right.

Genres: Westerns

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Pseudonym used by Ben Haas.

Reviews

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing the Sundance books on the spinner racks and magazine shelves at the drug stores and supermarkets, when I was growing-up. Those covers were a little racy for boy to pull-off getting past his mother, but the savage image of a shirtless blonde man in Indian buckskin pants and holstered six-shooter, always stayed with me.
I reached a point in my reading where I've gotten nostalgic for all the, what used to be called Men's Adventure genre, that I never read. Also, Ben Haas, aka John Benteen, kept popping-up on my radar for some reason.
So finally read Fargo #1 and then this book, and it was a great! Yeah it's somewhat of a macho-throwback but provided me with a type of entertainment that I hadn't had in years. I hope to read all of the Sundance books, along with Fargo and the Cutler series too.

[Jo Walpole · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best stories I've read recently. The buffalo hunt scene was excellent. I really enjoyed the whole thing and bought the next one in the series within minutes of finishing the first.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the Fargo books by the same author and had read one of these before, so I figured I would try the first one out. Well it was pretty disappointing. The main character is fairly interesting, but the author swallowed the Custer smear feathers and all and that's not the end of it.

Look, Custer was a preening self important jackass but he also was a capable soldier and leader. He did not, for instance, mistreat people in his command, he did not ignore scouts except one time in his overconfidence that led to his death, and he was not an cheap, backstabbing incompetent. I get that old stories treated him like an absurd hero, but the man was not how he was portrayed in this book, either.

Making matters worse is that every single white man in the book save one is a complete piece of crap that treats everyone awful, is hugely bigoted, and greedy. All of them are lying backstabbers except for one shop owner and, oddly, Bill Hickock gets treated fairly as well.

Meanwhile there are three Kiowa who try to ambush Our Hero, but aside from them every single native in this book is a heroic, noble, worthy figure who Sundance refuses to harm or even fight. Meanwhile he murders a good dozen cavalry guys just for being between him and his target.

Its hard to find good westerns because they seem to lurch almost drunkenly between "All injuns are scum" and "Our Native American brothers were noble and just and never did wrong." The truth is, everyone is just human, and some are good and some are bad no matter where you come from.

This book was a dated and annoying disappointment.

[Joseph O Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying that John Benteen (the pseudonym ofauthor Ben Haas) possesses a masterfully cinematic style. His use of imagery, description of lighting and indeed the well realised players within his stories is akin to Sergio Leone's artistic flair. Couple this with a historical sensibility and an awareness of the social issues and, indeed, bigotry suffered by the various plains nations and you have a narrative that is - in short - far beyond the usual paperback dime novel.

Having perhaps over indulged in the first four Sundance novels, reading them in a very short space of time, my only criticism rests in that there are instances of repetition at the start of each novel. Benteen goes to great lengths within the first few pages of each story to establish Sundance's pyschology, his appearance, his weapons and his reverence for the tribal traditions in which he was raised. While this is clearly to fill in new readers who may not have read the previous novels, it is more than noticeable to those readers who wish to read the entirety of Benteen's series in tandem. If read at intervals, however, I'm sure that this would not be an issue.

[Michael D. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deathnell to all Indians!

As a person of mixed blood(Caucasian) I'm ashamed to admit that my ancestors were greedy beyond belief! Our forefathers escaped to this continent to escape tyranny and greed, to create a land that was supposed to be free for all people? What about a nation of people who already were from this continent, were they not included? We abused, destroyed, their source of livelyhood, killed and subjected all to what they had escaped from in the Old Country! We now in this day and age have destroyed a whole nation of humanity that couldn't know what their outcome would be? I'm ashamed and can never repay what we as a growing nation of free men could do to innocent human beings we called savages!! What made them that way????

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Sundance is basically a half breed Fargo but that's not a bad thing. There is even a scene where he checks all his weapons one by one like in all of the Fargo novels. Sundance is sent for to get a rich man's daughter back from the indians along with his gold which seems to be more important to the man. The half breed has run ins with Custer and his big Sgt, also is friends with Wild Bill Hickok.

Highly recommended, way past time to start these. Great character, along with his horse Eagle, and an action packed story.

[S.wagenaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read, not quite as good as some of the Fargo books I’ve read, but still a solid, entertaining short novel. Sundance is a pretty interesting character, with a foot in the white man’s world and the other in the Cheyenne world. Quite brutal at times; Benteen (Ben Haas) can write a mean fight sequence! Recommended.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Western entry by John Benteen. Sundance is half Cheyenne and half Englishman. He uses the weapons of both and as usual with the work of Benteen all are spoken of and used. It is almost an earlier time Fargo, only the protagonist is part Indian.

[Mark Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overkill...a western novel

Just for entertainment. I've always enjoyed western novels. This was Book 1 of the Sundance series. A bit of historical fiction as the main character comes in contact with several real folks from the old west.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benteen really knew how to write a hard-as-nails, action-packed tale. This first book about Jim Sundance - half-Cheyenne, half-white, all badass - is a lot of fun, with the added bonus of some nicely-realized period detail and a strong sense of respect for Native Americans and their culture.

[Martha Peebles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overkill

Great book, I will look forward to reading more of the Sundance books. I really liked this one. John Benteen did a great job.