Bounty Hunter John Tone was good at his job. Some would say ruthless. But when a nefarious criminal from the Barbary Coast makes him an offer he can't refuse, Tone himself becomes the hunted one. As the bounty hunter steels himself for a showdown, he may be loading the six chambers of his Colt for the last time...
Ralph Compton (April 11, 1934—September 16, 1998) was an American writer of western fiction.
A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton began his writing career with a notable work, The Goodnight Trail, which was chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America "Medicine Pipe Bearer Award" bestowed upon the "Best Debut Novel". He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. In the last decade of his life, he authored more than two dozen novels, some of which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction.
Ralph Compton died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64. Since his passing, Signet Books has continued the author's legacy, releasing new novels, written by authors such as Joseph A. West and David Robbins, under Compton's byline.
I really liked this book. It's the first that I have read for a long time that has it's setting in San Francisco's Barbary Coast in the late 1800's. That was the days of a lot of immigration to the U.S. and so there is a little reflection on John Tone's Irish background as well as the poor state of most of the Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. I like the relationship between the city police, our gunfighter hero, and the Chinese Tong. Once into it, it's hard to put down.
A combination of Treasure Island, Jack the Ripper and Have gun will travel, full of cliches and unrealistic violence. Did not enjoy the graphic violent content, that seemed to be no for reason.