Les Savage (1922–1958)

8 short stories, half originally published in Zane Grey's Western Magazine, most 1949 - 51. Savage had a regrettably short life, dying of diabetes at only 35 years old. For all that, he was extremely prolific, sort of a western version of [a:Robert E. Howard|66700|Robert E. Howard|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1210954603p2/66700.jpg]. In the following link, he is described as a western noir writer. Certainly he seemed to strive for a streak of realism that really makes his stories pop.
show more target="_top">http://montanawriter.com/2012/02/12/western-writer-les-savage-jr/

I didn't bother rating the stories individually. They were all quite good & have a strong love/romantic streak with very tough men & women, often in extremely harsh conditions. The hero is a good guy, but has some rounded edges & the bad guys aren't always completely bad, although some are worse than others. The fight scenes are pretty good - none of this slapping leather at high noon, real fighting with single action revolvers, rifles & knives. Much more believable than the normal fare & they roam all around in time, area (One is in Canada with the RCMP.) & occupations. Certainly a great break from the normal westerns & the writing is very spare.

King of the Buckskin Breed is set in 1840 & deals with a mountain man, a fur trading company & Blackfeet Indians. A strong love interest & a tarnished reputation set the stage for an exciting journey.

Silver & Shells for General Kearny is about 1847, set in & around Santa Fe, NM. There is fighting, corruption, & sinister, mysterious plotting over whether the territory stays in Mexican hands or goes over to the US.

Dangerous Orders is set in 1861 near Tuscon, AZ. Very well done, although the motives weren't clear until the end & that left me hanging some. I liked it a lot, though.

Six-Gun Bride of the Teton Bunch was quite a wild ride full of twists & turns.

Lunatic Patrol was a horror story featuring a Mountie. The lunacy was very acute - too much so for me. Still, it was short & memorable.

Chuck-Wagon Warrior was fun & had the most likable character yet in it. A tough camp cook isn't the normal hero & the story was better for it.

The Devil's Keyhole featured an engineer building a flume across a canyon during the gold rush.

Saddlemates had a mare named Tar Baby, the name of my mother's first horse. Could it get any better? More of a typical western, but quite good & twisty. Great characters.

Ends with an impressive bibliography of western books by Les Savage Jr. My thanks to Werner for turning me on to this author. show less

Good action short stories in a variety of western periods and settings.