Outcast gun

by Giles A. Lutz

Book by Lutz, Giles A

266 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1958

About the author

Giles Alfred Lutz (March 1910–June 1982) was a prolific author of fiction in the Western genre. Born in 9 March 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, Lutz for many years wrote short stories about the American West that were published in pulp magazines. His story "Get a Wild Horse Hunter," an example of his pulp fiction writing, appeared in the June 1952 edition of the magazine Western Novels and Short Stories. In the mid-1950s Lutz made the transition to full-length novels, and until his death in June 1982, published numerous stories about the American West. In 1962, Lutz won the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award for his novel, The Honyocker.

Lutz wrote under several pseudonyms during his pulp fiction career, including under the names: " James B. Chaffin," " Wade Everett (with Will Cook)," " Alex Hawk," "Hunter," " Hunter Ingram," " Reese Sullivan," and " Gene Thompson." Under the pseudonym " Brad Curtis," Lutz wrote steamy pulp novels in the erotica genre. He also wrote a lot of sports fiction for the pulp magazines, in titles like Ace Sports, Complete Sports, and Football Stories.

Reviews

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first from the author but won't be my last. It's a very well done book on an old theme, namely a gunfighter wanting to give up the life and settle down but not being given the opportunity to do so. Quade is always spotted, someone always knows who he is or seen him in action and that's the case in this latest town, in the first hour. Though before he leaves he runs into another outcast and his daughter who are getting harassed by the big family of the area. He decides to stay and help them out. He needs to do it as much as they need his help.

Recommended, there is one bit that is a little silly but overall the story is well done with nicely drawn characters. Has a great final showdown scene that was written about as well as a classic gunfight scene can be written.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gunslinger Jim Quade enters town bitter and jaded, hoping to hang up his weapons and start a new life—but his reputation precedes him and the town doesn't want him.

He isn't the only one shunned by the townsfolk. Old man Chesbrough is bullied and hated by the richest family in the region, the MacLendons. His daughter, too, sees plenty of disdain over the fact that she's a single mother.

Somehow this ragtag trio of outcasts finds each other and helps each rebuild their life. Until the MacLendons decide that just cannot stand.

This is a decent little western. I liked the conceit of the gunman tiring of killing, trying to find a place to grow some roots. Lutz does a great job of getting into characters' heads—especially Quade's—and letting the reader follow their emotional journey. There's a couple plot-thickening twists along the way and plenty of bullets fired. One of the gimmicks to rid the heroes of a villain is a little corny, almost Scooby-doo-ish, but there's a super tense shootout right afterward to make you forget it.

Throughout the book, Lutz goes heavy on Quade's thoughts about what "a man" can, might, and should or shouldn't do. "A man blamed himself for something, and anything that logically stemmed from that self blame, he accepted as being his due." "A man found what he wanted, then he had to leave." "The hotcakes kept a man eating long after he should have stopped." It happened every 5 pages or so and almost became comical. Someone could take every one of the book's "a man" sentences and make a poem to rival Kipling's "If".

[Blake Douglass · Rating 4 out of 5]

One problem I have with westerns is that as an audience we need a character to attach to and support, this character must also be within a story that takes place in a time period with different values and ideals to our own. The problem then is to create characters with appropriate values that also align with the audience. Like I would not root as hard for a cowboy who beats his wife, but I would agree that he belongs in a western. Rant aside, this book does a good job of making believable characters that we still align with and support.
The start of this book is very strong, and the token woman that the good guy falls in love with gets dialogue (something surprisingly uncommon in this genre). She also has a son who's mostly a prop. The middle of this book is a bit rough, and the ending sorta stumbles past the finish line. It's a good book, the start is far stronger than the finish.
I will probably re-read this at some point, and I will sample other books by Giles A. Lutz

[Scott Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up while sitting in a waiting VA clinic waiting room. I enjoy westerns written before 1970 as they have a different moral code in them. This one was enjoyable, but it was easy to forecast what was going to happen. A fast read and worth reading.

[Chris Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A killer with a moral code...
Nasty people,
forgiveness,
redemption,
lots of dead people,
the end.