Sunday 24 August 2008

Morgan Kane #32

 SOUTHERN SHOWDOWN
as by Louis Masterson
Corgi, 1976, translated by Jeffery M. Wallman.
First published in Norway in 1969.

Kane has turned his back on being a lawman and has drifted east to Pasedena were he earns a living hunting meat for a local cafe. But when Van Doren hits town Kane finds himself hired to do a different kind of hunting. Paid now by Van Doren, Kane’s job is to kill one of the most notorious gunslingers in the West. But Kane will soon find that even without a badge, he was still a U.S. Marshal and killing a man in cold blood just isn’t going to come easy...

Louis Masterson (Kjell Hallbing) writes a fast moving tale that rotates around the discovery of oil. Greed for the rewards of this discovery being the basic plotline of the book. Yet for Kane there will be a more personal struggle, as he strives to forget a woman, and come to terms with the possibility of killing a man for no other reason than money. And it’s these latter storylines that make this a compelling read.

As Kane struggles with the rights and wrongs of the situation he finds himself in, he will meet a person who will cause more trouble for him in later books.

This is a highly entertaining read, in a series that I recommend.

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