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Bloody Kansas
Would Marshall Sutton’s lightning gun be fast enough to clean up Dodge City?
When Silent Sutton rides into Dodge City, Kansas, he finds a hell town of gun battles and killings. So he pins on a Marshal's badge and uses his lightning fast gun to bring peace and justice to the toughest city in the west. But Sutton does it knowing that there's one gunman in town who can beat him to the draw -- Stud Bailey, the self-styled boss of Dodge, who is waiting to take the Marshal's woman and bury him on boot hill.
When Silent Sutton rides into Dodge City, Kansas, he finds a hell town of gun battles and killings. So he pins on a Marshal's badge and uses his lightning fast gun to bring peace and justice to the toughest city in the west. But Sutton does it knowing that there's one gunman in town who can beat him to the draw -- Stud Bailey, the self-styled boss of Dodge, who is waiting to take the Marshal's woman and bury him on boot hill.
- GenresWesterns
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 30, 2014
'Bloody Kansas' seems to me to be more real than many westerns I've read. The language is not literate, nor direct. Many characters are not sure of themselves, many confused and many conflicted. Older characters are realizing their age but not much brighter than anyone else. I think this best portrays those that headed west. The majority of westerns have all the characters sound like they just left a Toastmasters meeting. The characters in this book likely never saw a school room. Which was true at that time.
AS much as I really like the stories and characters in the Johnstone Clan books, this seemed to me far more accurate. There are no brilliant geniuses in this tale. Plenty who think they are and get caught in it. There are characters who work to be a bad or good guy and cave during the book as situations bend them. It's hard to say there is a good guy in the book, though there is a focus on a central character.
For all of this I would give this book five stars. The trouble is plugging all this in and making a coherent story. That's where this stumbles. The author seems to have worked so hard to relate an illiterate group, that it is sometimes hard to follow the story. The constant mention of everyone's nickname also makes reading difficult as the names don't role off the tongue or mind. But, wouldn't that be typical in the wild and illiterate west?
I think this book has bad ratings due to there being a questionable good guy or bad guy. I thinks it makes it more realistic.
Bottom line: I recommend this book.
I'll start here adding a rating from 10, which makes more sense than Goodreads 5: 6 out of 10
AS much as I really like the stories and characters in the Johnstone Clan books, this seemed to me far more accurate. There are no brilliant geniuses in this tale. Plenty who think they are and get caught in it. There are characters who work to be a bad or good guy and cave during the book as situations bend them. It's hard to say there is a good guy in the book, though there is a focus on a central character.
For all of this I would give this book five stars. The trouble is plugging all this in and making a coherent story. That's where this stumbles. The author seems to have worked so hard to relate an illiterate group, that it is sometimes hard to follow the story. The constant mention of everyone's nickname also makes reading difficult as the names don't role off the tongue or mind. But, wouldn't that be typical in the wild and illiterate west?
I think this book has bad ratings due to there being a questionable good guy or bad guy. I thinks it makes it more realistic.
Bottom line: I recommend this book.
I'll start here adding a rating from 10, which makes more sense than Goodreads 5: 6 out of 10
November 16, 2025
This was my third Chuck Martin Western but first featuring Silent Sutton as the protagonist. The previous two that I read featured Gospel Cummings. I must admit I prefer the Gospel Cummings books more. I'd really be curious to know the order in which Martin wrote them all. It seemed he really hit his stride with Cummings as the lead, so I'm thinking they came later. Still, this was a solid story and Martin didn't do anything to discourage me from reading other of his titles.
I am not a person inclined to Westerns but when I saw a large print Chuck Martin book at my local library, I decided to give it a try. I haven't been disappointed.
I am not a person inclined to Westerns but when I saw a large print Chuck Martin book at my local library, I decided to give it a try. I haven't been disappointed.
July 12, 2015
Doge City was a hell town
When Silent Sutton first rode up the main street. He found a serpent's nest of gun battles and killing in the toughest city in the West, but when they gave him a marshal's star and asked him to lend his lightning fast gun to the side of justice, he couldn't say no. Even though he knew there was one gun in Dodge that could beat his to the draw - and that gun was waiting to send him to a grave in Boothill...
When Silent Sutton first rode up the main street. He found a serpent's nest of gun battles and killing in the toughest city in the West, but when they gave him a marshal's star and asked him to lend his lightning fast gun to the side of justice, he couldn't say no. Even though he knew there was one gun in Dodge that could beat his to the draw - and that gun was waiting to send him to a grave in Boothill...
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April 29, 2008martin, chuck
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews