That Buzzard from Brimstone

A master of the pulp western formula—good guys, bad guys, barmaids, fistfights, gunplay, double-crosses and frontier justice (i.e., pumping the bad guys full of holes)—Cushman delivers in these four novellas, originally published between 1946 and 1949. In “Reckoning at Robber's Roost,” a mysterious highwayman, with a surprise for everyone, tangles with a local tycoon, a corrupt sheriff and a gang of bandits who don't take kindly to competition. “The Gambler's Code” finds notorious gambler Shanghai Nivens in Alaska thinking he's inherited a bank, only to find he's heir to nothing but trouble: a girl, a gunman, a lynch mob and more looking to instigate a permanent bank holiday. “The Craft of Ka-yip” is the smart tale of an old Indian foiling an owlhoot gang's steamboat robbery, using a dangerous but clever ruse. In the title story, a young cowboy is falsely accused of robbery and murder, but saved by two curious saddle pals; the three amigos then go on to solve a mystery, expose a conspiracy and discover the secret of a dead man. Great literature this is not, but it sure is fun. (Nov.)