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Fargo #9

The Sharpshooters

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Western novel. Paperback.

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1982

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About the author

John Benteen

120 books16 followers
Pseudonym used by Ben Haas.

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5 stars
20 (44%)
4 stars
15 (33%)
3 stars
8 (17%)
2 stars
2 (4%)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Jonathan Ammon.
Author 10 books17 followers
January 6, 2024
Another satisfying genre entry with a fresh, plot, setting, and characters.
Profile Image for Josh Hitch.
1,349 reviews17 followers
April 7, 2022
Love the Fargo character and this was a great novel. In it Fargo was asked to take out a mountain clan who had 30 fighting men but he didnt like the money and knew he could make more running guns to Villa across the border. However the Rangers surrounded him and he really didn't want to shoot one, so the deal was made to go get one of those mountain folks, who had killed a ranger, dead or alive preferably dead. Of course Fargo has figured out a way to make money on this as well and always ready with a new plan.

Highly recommended, all the Fargos I've read have been excellent.
1,249 reviews23 followers
September 14, 2018
MOUNTAIN FOLKS

Fargo caught between a rock and a hard place. The Texas Rangers have him bottled up and no way out. If he kills a Texas Ranger, they will follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond if necessary. Fargo's thoughts do not include jail which would happen because he was running guns and ammunition to Villa in Mexico. He couldn't out run the Rangers and he wasn't going to wind up in Huntsville or some Federal prison. He'd rather take a bullet. There are many things you can say about Fargo, but he isn't afraid of death. It's like he and Death ride together, sleep,eat and fight together...you know two peas in a pod. When you live your life as a mercenary
you never know which bullet is the kill shot.
In this adventure he's dealing with the Canfields
of the Allegheny Mountains, these are mountain folk, very clanish and some might say looking at them there might be some inbreeding amongst them. Well, this is family against cattle ranchers who want the mountain they are living on for their cattle, evidently there's a war brewing and these cattle ranchers figure they can make money the fatter their cattle are. So they want to annihilate the Canfields. A Ranger was murdered by a Canfield a n d the Rangers want him. So they make a deal with Fargo to get Jess Canfield, the shooter and they'll forget about charging Fargo with gun running. It's a great adventure can't say it's really western because is slowly becoming civilized and the mercenaries are slowly thinning out. The Civil Wars in Mexico, South America aren't as frequent as they were. That type of life is kinda calming down, but not for long. Fargo and men like him will always be around to hire their guns to the highest payoff.
Profile Image for Tim Deforest.
840 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2021
Fargo gets cornered by Texas Rangers while smuggling ammunition into Mexico for Pancho Villa. To avoid jail, he agrees to bring in a man who murdered a Texas Ranger.

This tosses him into a situation involving a clan of South Carolina mountain men who have relocated to a remote Texas Valley. Also involved are two different ranchers who also want possession of that valley. To get his job done, Fargo has to walk an interesting tightrope between helping the mountain men clan while bringing in (or killing) the son of the clan's leader. It's a clever plot that is well-executed.

A brutal knife fight in the action-scene highlight of the novel, though the final gun battle (involving a lot of human participants and as a number of killer dogs) is also excellent.
Profile Image for Christopher Taylor.
Author 10 books79 followers
April 5, 2024
Reading these books in order is interesting because the exercise gives a feel for the flow of Benteen's writing and storytelling. Some of these stories feel more like a money maker, and some feel like he was really inspired and had an interesting story to tell.

This time, Fargo is hired on to take out a large group of Kentucky feuders who are squatting on land that a pair of cattlemen want. Displeased with the job of sniping 30 men, women, and children, Fargo goes back to running guns and gets caught by the Texas Rangers. Things go downhill for him from there.

But he battles his way back, fights a hulking psychopath (several times) wins the, well, lust of a young nester girl, and solves a seemingly unsolvable problem. Its exciting, fresh, and keeps your attention well.
Profile Image for VT.
272 reviews6 followers
September 25, 2023
This... this is clearly a book written for men. It's not graphic, sexy-time wise, but it is pretty blatant in seeing "things" (including women) for their "usefulness" to men and no other way. Fortunately that wasn't a huge part of the story, but when it did arrive, it just added to the struggle I had in completing reading this novel. Honestly if it had been longer I wouldn't have bothered - only because it was so short did I decide I might as well push on to the end.

There were some sort of interesting lines, but over all it's a loser. I'll make a longer review on my blog, I think, but only because I'm short on westerns to review at the moment.
76 reviews
July 24, 2021
Hillbilly Hills

Early times brought many feuds, fighting just as natural as breathing! History produced many different clans! Those that survived stayed in their beloved hills to flourish, continue on as only they knew how to! As the country grew many of these hardy people moved farther west to assist this country grow and become what it is today! his country has survived and flourished because of all beginning w/ Plymouth Rock!
Profile Image for S.wagenaar.
107 reviews
May 12, 2022
Another rock-solid Fargo adventure; I have yet to read one that doesn’t deliver great action/adventure entertainment. This one also featured very little sex in it, only one minor dalliance. But there was plenty of other action to fill the pages including gunfights, fisticuffs, a knife fight and a skirmish that featured vicious hunting hounds. This wasn’t my favorite Fargo, that would be Wolfshead, but still an very good yarn. Recommended.
2,490 reviews46 followers
January 10, 2009
Superior entry in the Fargo series.
Caught smuggling guns across the Mexican border by the Texas Rangers, Fargo has two choices: fight it out and die or go after Jess Canfield for murdering a Texas Ranger.

He respects the Canfields and has to figure out how to do it without killing any of North Carolina mountain family. There's an outside force planning to wipe them out for their land as well that he wants to stop.

Sounds like an easy day for Fargo.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews