Stringer

Stringer #1

by Lou Cameron

At the turn of the century, Stringer MacKail, a newspaperman is sent to do a story about an outlaw murdered fifty years ago, and finds herself the target of gunmen

Genres: Westerns

184 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1987

Reviews

[Malum · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lou Cameron wrote this about ten years after he ghostwrote Longarm and the Highgraders. The book covers in this series even proudly proclaim things like "From the creators of Longarm!" and "In the tradition of Longarm!". This is important because, while the plot (what there is of one) is different from Highgraders, it feels like Cameron used his notes from that book when writing this one. Both take place in Calaveras county. Both mention Mark Twain and the bandit Murietta. Both have our protagonist doing research at the local library and hooking up with the secretly slutty librarian at the librarian's house. I could go on.

The bigger problem, though, is that this isn't a good book. The plot is barely there and nothing happens for long stretches at a time. Stringer talks to someone, then he rides somewhere and talks to someone else. Then he gets back on his horse and rides somewhere else to talk to another person. I was trying my hardest to be invested but by the middle of the book I just wanted it to end. This very short book felt like it was 500 pages.

For as campy as they are, the Longarm books can be pretty fun and Longarm is a fun character to follow around. This, however was like watching paint dry and Stringer himself is as bland as beige. It's weird, too, because Cameron wrote some of the better Longarm novels. I guess he just decided to phone this one in.

[Ian Pattinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Western set in the early years of the twentieth century, so there was some interesting use of the telephone, with rural 'party lines' for communication.

'Stringer' McKail travels from San Francisco- where he's one of those too-honest-to-be-rich-and-famous newspaper reporters- to Calaveras Countys, where he grew up. Not long after arriving, people are trying to kill him. Soon after that, he meets the first of a string of women who want to sleep with him.

It's all got something to do with a stagecoach robbery fifty years earlier, and a bandito who most likely never existed- his name translates from Mexican Spanish as 'Grumpy Joe', and may have been a catch all to keep the 'Anglos' from persecuting the local Mexican community. Somebody thinks they can track down the treasure, and they're not above killing and kidnapping to get to it.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like the characters, the style or the narrator- couldn't even get through the book.