Richard Laymon Same Vein

RATING:

Publisher: No Exit Press

Review Source:

POTSHOT by Robert B. Parker

Be warned, fellow Spenser fans, here comes Robert B. Parker with a Spenserized version of "The Magnificent Seven"! That's right, an Old West showdown with our hero and his band of intrepid mercenaries - a rogue's gallery of inimitable sidekicks from past books - versus a large gang of marauding mavericks organized under an intense scarecrow of a leader known only as The Preacher. No, the outcome is never ever in doubt, but that's not why we read Spenser's adventures, is it?

Here's the caper: Our hero is hired by Mary Lou Buckman, a "comely" widow from Potshot, an out-of-the-way Old West town reclaimed and re-settled by monied refugees from life in the big city. Mary Lou wants Spenser to pin down her husband's murder on The Preacher and his motley gang of thugs, collectively known as The Dell, who regularly emerge from their hideout in the hills above to terrorize Potshot. Local law enforcement seems unable or unwilling to do anything about the murder or the gang.

Naturally, Spenser starts to stir things up. Before long, he's sufficiently impressed Potshot's leaders, who also want to hire him to clean out The Dell. For that, he needs reinforcements: from Boston, old ally and henchman, Hawk, and the quick-draw, dead-eye gunsel Vinnie Morris; Tedy Sapp, the bodybuilding gay bar owner from Georgia; Bernard J. Fortunato, the diminutive tough guy from Las Vegas; and Los Angeles mobster Vincent del Rio's ace soldiers, Chollo and Bobby Horse.

As ever, Spenser is confronted by the fact that things aren't what they seem. The crooked may be telling the truth; "the innocent" have self-serving, double-dealing motives and dubious backgrounds to hide.

Face-offs pile up into a bloody climax as Spenser makes the connections among the players and does the job he's never really hired to do - find the truth - which turns out to be a conclusion that's not so far from the surface after all. The ending is a twist, though not really a surprise, that's reminiscent of James M. Cain's DOUBLE INDEMNITY. Enough said.

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Published by No Exit Press
Distributed by Capricorn Link (Aust)
Available through good bookstores.

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