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The guilty guns
Johnny Ormsby had been born an Indian and as an infant was the sole survivor of the massacre of his village. Raised by Tom Ormsby, now the sheriff, Johnny was accepted by the community—until someone started killing the men who had wiped out his tribe twenty years ago. Then fear and long-buried hate turned the town against Johnny and his only hope was to find and expose the real killer. So the hunt began—one man against a desperate and unknown killer.
243 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
About the author
Lewis B. Patten
175 books23 followersaka Lewis Ford, Len Leighton, Joseph Wayne (with Wayne D. Overholser)
Lewis Byford Patten was a prolific author of American Western Novels, born in Denver, Colorado. Often published under the names Lewis Ford, Len Leighto and, Joseph Wayne.
Lewis Byford Patten was a prolific author of American Western Novels, born in Denver, Colorado. Often published under the names Lewis Ford, Len Leighto and, Joseph Wayne.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2024
Lewis B. Patten is my favorite western writer. This 156-page novel from 1963 isn't bad (I don't think he could write a bad one), but it's not one of his best. It's a western, but it's really just a crime novel set in the old west.
An unknown sniper is picking off a group of men who, twenty years earlier, carried out a massacre at an Indian village. Everyone thinks the killer is a vengeful young Indian man who, as a toddler, was the sole survivor of the massacre and now happens to be a deputy in the local town. But the author tells us up front that he's not the killer. That leaves only one other person in the list of characters with a motive. I believe most readers will easily guess who the killer is well before the big reveal. I usually think books are too long and need to be shorter. This is the rare example of one that I felt needed more pages to develop a couple of more suspects.
Still, Patten was a wonderful spinner of western tales. There are many good scenes in this novel and I'm not sorry I read it.
An unknown sniper is picking off a group of men who, twenty years earlier, carried out a massacre at an Indian village. Everyone thinks the killer is a vengeful young Indian man who, as a toddler, was the sole survivor of the massacre and now happens to be a deputy in the local town. But the author tells us up front that he's not the killer. That leaves only one other person in the list of characters with a motive. I believe most readers will easily guess who the killer is well before the big reveal. I usually think books are too long and need to be shorter. This is the rare example of one that I felt needed more pages to develop a couple of more suspects.
Still, Patten was a wonderful spinner of western tales. There are many good scenes in this novel and I'm not sorry I read it.
November 28, 2025
Ten men slaughter a tiny tribe of Cheyanne for stealing a cow. One toddler boy survives and is found by Tom Ormsby. Tom names the boy Johnny and adopts him. Decades later, Johnny is deputy to Tom's sheriff. He's got a girlfriend and no problems.
Then someone starts killing the ten men who slaughtered his tribe and makes it look like Johnny did it. The town turns on him, leaving just his dad, girlfriend, and the local doctor still on his side. Someone shoots Tom, and Johnny is left alone to figure out who the real killer is.
I loved the premise of the story, but was a little disappointed in its execution. It's a fine, serviceable book, but I thought the tension could have been ramped up a bit or the mystery a little deeper. I kept waiting for a twist, but there weren't too many surprises at the end. I actually think this would be a great book for younger readers, it has some thrills, but not much grit, and straightforward prose.
Then someone starts killing the ten men who slaughtered his tribe and makes it look like Johnny did it. The town turns on him, leaving just his dad, girlfriend, and the local doctor still on his side. Someone shoots Tom, and Johnny is left alone to figure out who the real killer is.
I loved the premise of the story, but was a little disappointed in its execution. It's a fine, serviceable book, but I thought the tension could have been ramped up a bit or the mystery a little deeper. I kept waiting for a twist, but there weren't too many surprises at the end. I actually think this would be a great book for younger readers, it has some thrills, but not much grit, and straightforward prose.
November 19, 2020
Not read a bad Patten book yet. This is also a solid tale, it's more of a mystery then you would think. It leads you to believe that's it's a straight revenge plot, with the sole survivor of a massacre 20 yrs before is killing the participants one by one. However he isn't doing it and to save his deputy badge and his life he needs to figure out why, all this time later, someone is killing all the men who participated in the massacre.
Highly recommend this and any book by Patten. This is a short 122 page tale so you can read it quickly and like most of his works it reads like a 50s B western which is never a bad thing.
Highly recommend this and any book by Patten. This is a short 122 page tale so you can read it quickly and like most of his works it reads like a 50s B western which is never a bad thing.
Want to Read
May 20, 2026A
February 6, 2017
My third Patten, and the one where he finally clicked. I had heard about him as being one of the more hardboiled Western writers of his generation. There was definitely some evidence of that in the first two books of his I read, but they weren't great. Good enough that I kept reading his stuff but not good enough to get me excited. This one did.
The Guilty Guns starts with the massacre of an Indian village and then jumps ahead twenty years where the lone survivor, a toddler at the time, has grown up and is a deputy in the same town as those who perpetrated the massacre live, and then they start getting themselves murdered.
You'll figure out who's doing it before our hero, which seems appropriate in a traditional Western. It's a classic murder mystery rationale. At the same time there is some pretty interesting race issues going on, our hero Johnny is an indian raised in white culture and doesn't quite understand how racism works (he's to rational about it basically). But after much violence and despair everything turns out alright at the end; it is a traditional Western after all.
Probably give it three and a half stars but am happy to bump it up to four for fulfilling Patten's promise, at least as far as I'm concerned.
The Guilty Guns starts with the massacre of an Indian village and then jumps ahead twenty years where the lone survivor, a toddler at the time, has grown up and is a deputy in the same town as those who perpetrated the massacre live, and then they start getting themselves murdered.
You'll figure out who's doing it before our hero, which seems appropriate in a traditional Western. It's a classic murder mystery rationale. At the same time there is some pretty interesting race issues going on, our hero Johnny is an indian raised in white culture and doesn't quite understand how racism works (he's to rational about it basically). But after much violence and despair everything turns out alright at the end; it is a traditional Western after all.
Probably give it three and a half stars but am happy to bump it up to four for fulfilling Patten's promise, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews