Cedar City Rendezvous

The ultimate gunfight among the best ``shootists' in the West is the fanciful premise of Savage's (The Court Martial of Robert E. Lee) latest. The sheriff of Cedar City, Utah, eager to dispose of his town's human vermin, lures gunslingers with the promise of a fortune in gold for the last man left standing. The notorious Hart brothers, eager to swell their coffers, set out for Cedar City, collecting fellow travelers along the way like ghoulish Canterbury pilgrims. The unholy entourage swells to include a grim-faced killer known as the Deacon, a dipsomaniacal would-be doctor, a former lawman and a mountain man called No Account and his silent young sidekick. Not surprisingly, trouble enters the scene when some in this bunch prefer not to abide by the rules while others make known their particular agendas. Infusing his fresh tale with frequent gusts of humor, Savage displays a deft touch for plotting. And as for that final showdown, getting there is more than half the fun, with the result that the event itself seems almost anticlimactic. Still, as the tension mounts, readers will hang in for the answer to the novel's critical question: Who will walk away, and who will be left face down in the dust? (Mar.)