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Houston
Camp Houston wanders the plains of the Old West, tracking a band of wily outlaws who viciously shot and killed his best friend John Calloway and two companions in cold blood
- GenresFiction
286 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 25, 2022
Camp Houston is one of those rare cowboys who worked multiple spreads and left behind good friends when he moved on. He has managed to endear himself to almost everyone he has ever met. This strong social standing and reputation of being a good and honest man provides him with a great deal of assistance as he goes about his mission, running down the gang who killed his friend. He also has a decent reputation of being something of a gunman.
As he goes about tracking down the murderers he travels across the country, reconnecting with friends and former employers. The author tends to feel the need to provide extended detail on the past of these marginal characters even when it isn't needed. At times the brief background is interesting while at others it simply slows the story down a bit. However, the reader is left with the belief that these characters, however marginal to the story, are real characters that perhaps Bowman researched while working on his novel.
Bowman would better have spent his time researching weapons of the old west. He makes the same rookie mistake common to western writers by describing every handgun in the novel as a Peacemaker. Let's not forget that the Colt was indeed the gun that won the west by virtue of being the most popular. However, there were plenty of other firearms in use. Describing every pistol as a Peacemaker is not only historical inaccurate, it is also nothing short of laziness on the part of a writer who did plenty of research in other areas.
The main plot is traditional and our hero's approach to it offers some uniqueness. He doesn't have a fire of rage building up within him and goes about it methodically and steadfast in accomplishing his goal. The shootouts are well-written action scene, but it does seem that Houston's pistol seems to have a problem with firing a bit high as the bullet always seems to strike his opponent in the head or throat.
In case the author felt that a traditional vengeance tale wouldn't be enough to carry an entire western novel he takes the time to present a side-story about Houston establishing a ranch. This part of the story was almost as interesting as the main tale, but it interfered with the main tale and made the novel move in slow motion.
I wanted to like this book more than I really did. The split story and constant references to the Peacemaker were places where the trail was just washed out. Houston kept riding the range, but as a reader, I almost gave up several times.
As he goes about tracking down the murderers he travels across the country, reconnecting with friends and former employers. The author tends to feel the need to provide extended detail on the past of these marginal characters even when it isn't needed. At times the brief background is interesting while at others it simply slows the story down a bit. However, the reader is left with the belief that these characters, however marginal to the story, are real characters that perhaps Bowman researched while working on his novel.
Bowman would better have spent his time researching weapons of the old west. He makes the same rookie mistake common to western writers by describing every handgun in the novel as a Peacemaker. Let's not forget that the Colt was indeed the gun that won the west by virtue of being the most popular. However, there were plenty of other firearms in use. Describing every pistol as a Peacemaker is not only historical inaccurate, it is also nothing short of laziness on the part of a writer who did plenty of research in other areas.
The main plot is traditional and our hero's approach to it offers some uniqueness. He doesn't have a fire of rage building up within him and goes about it methodically and steadfast in accomplishing his goal. The shootouts are well-written action scene, but it does seem that Houston's pistol seems to have a problem with firing a bit high as the bullet always seems to strike his opponent in the head or throat.
In case the author felt that a traditional vengeance tale wouldn't be enough to carry an entire western novel he takes the time to present a side-story about Houston establishing a ranch. This part of the story was almost as interesting as the main tale, but it interfered with the main tale and made the novel move in slow motion.
I wanted to like this book more than I really did. The split story and constant references to the Peacemaker were places where the trail was just washed out. Houston kept riding the range, but as a reader, I almost gave up several times.
June 3, 2012
This is a real good guys always win book. I liked it.
October 28, 2013
the best western
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews