Ambush at Torture Canyon

by Max Brand

Silas Durfee had come up against a lot of outlaws as a Texas Ranger, but he had never encountered one as cold and cruel as Spot Lester. There was a man who would as soon slit a throat as swat a fly. Hating Durfee for foiling one of his plans, Lester schemed and plotted and dreamed of the day he'd kill Durfee. Finally that day came. He had Durfee right where he wanted him -- trapped in Torture Canyon where the heat was enough to turn a man's brain to smoke and the only way out was through a hail of rifle fire. It wasn't the first time Silas Durfee had done battle with Spot Lester -- but it would likely be the last.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Frederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver

Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one read almost like 3 linked short stories back to back. I'm not sure that's not how they were originally written. The story is pretty good. An ex Texas Ranger is hired to teach and protect a young man from an outlaw. Turns out the Outlaw gets to the young man after all and sort of ignites the dangerousness of the young fellow. The rest of the book is about the Ranger and the Young man pursuing the villain.

There are some slow spots and occassionally things happen that seem to have been done out of convenience and without enough introduction. (The introduction in part 3 of a niece, for example.) But, in general it was a decent passing of the time novel.

[T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not much of a westerns person. But I wanted to give it a try. It’s short and broken into different stories, so as a result, they all seemed like they needed a little more. But I could be wrong as I don’t really read westerns.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three separate, but linked, stories. All three stories start promisingly, but ultimately fail to deliver. The ending of the third story is particularly anticlimactic and, therefore, disappointing.

[Rob Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Max Brand western. Enjoyable all the way through to the end. Well done!

[Jennifer Pampuch Borden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good. I was three connected stories in one book. The end was rushed and could have been flushed out. The author left a lot unsaid at the end. Maybe they were leaving themselves open to write another story about the same characters.