The Story of Buckhorn: A Western Duo

Paine (1916–2003) wrote more than 900 novels, and Five Star is republishing many of his westerns, often as duos of his shorter fiction, here packaging together The Valley of Thunder and The Story of Buckhorn. The former follows Paine’s formula of well-defined characters in a suspenseful, strong plot, with just enough six-gun action to spice things up; the latter is a sappy, unconvincing frontier romance. The Story of Buckhorn finds two South Dakota cattle ranching brothers at odds over Elisa Benton, a beautiful actress. Gard Ashley sees her as just a scheming gold digger, but his older brother, Court, is in love with her. When Court is robbed and murdered, Gard seeks revenge, and can’t understand why Elisa is protecting his brother’s killers. This predictable oater is short on believability and long on corny romance. The Valley of Thunder, originally published in 1982, is a gripping tale of a town marshal facing down ruthless cattle barons and their gunslinging cowboys. Lawman Hugh Mitchell is outnumbered by his foes and folks think he won’t last a week. Mitchell, however, is no pushover; he’s handy with a gun and smart enough to know when to use it. Aided by a couple of shotgun-toting citizens, Mitchell confronts the cattlemen and two trigger-happy bounty hunters. When the gun smoke clears, the undertaker is busy, the jail is full, the townspeople are happy, and Mitchell is still alive. (Nov.)