Temporary Duty

by Will Cook

The Arizona Territory of 1864 was dangerous Apache country, and Tucson was no healthier -- if you were on the wrong side of the Gannon brothers. Then a stranger came to town, a just-married young soldier who was assigned to rebuild the army post. Lieutenant Linus McCaffey refused to surrender to the fears of the townsfolk. What he saw as his duty, he carried out, like it or not. The way he saw it, there was no future for anyone in that town as long as the corrupt Gannons were in charge.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

William Everett Cook was born in Richmond, Indiana in 1922 and died in 1964. He began writing for publication in 1952 for Popular Library. During his short life Cook was a soldier, commercial aviator, deep-sea diver, logger, peace officer, and writer of western and adventure novels and stories. His hobbies included sports car racing, sailing, judo, and barbershop singing. His pseudonyms include Wayne Everett, James Keene, Frank Peace, and William Richards.

William Everett Cook was a writer of western and adventure novels and stories. Collection consists of correspondence (273 letters), manuscripts for his novels, short stories, and one novella, and an extensive collection of western pulp fiction containing short stories by Cook.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable review of my childhood naïveté as presented in some of my favorite TV westerns like Wagon Train, The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. Complete with self-assurance and wisdom our hero, Lt Linus McCaffey, and his new bride, Eloise, arrive during 1864 and the early development of the Arizona Territory. The title Temporary Duty becomes a very understandable life philosophy to help them through the unpleasantness of various situations. The villainous, extremely narcissistic Gannon brothers add corruption and fear to the mix. Of course, no frontier story is complete without the presence of Indigenous Native Americans, resistant to external control and subordination.
Love, Wisdom and compassion bring everyone together to resolve issues, expected and unexpected.