Brian Garfield is probably best known for his novel Death Wish, an action story about a modern day vigilante, which was later turned into an immensely popular motion picture featuring Charles Bronson, and also recently remade into another less popular movie starring Bruce Willis. Or perhaps you are familiar with his Edgar Award winning book Hopscotch which served as the basis for another popular film with Walter Matthau in the lead. Well, Brian Garfield also wrote a fair number of westerns too, and if Apache Canyon is a good example of his work in this genre, than I am very much looking forward to reading some more from this fine author.
Apache Canyon is a tightly written tale with a good deal of tension and very interesting characters. The story deals less in black and white absolutes, favoring a certain leaning towards moral ambiguity, and various shades of gray.
The story centers around the character of Will Brady, a professional scout doing contract work for the cavalry, and his contract is about to end. Will has no interest renewing his contract or continuing with his current lifestyle. The job was violent and bloody and the man no longer has the stomach for it. Brady dreams of retiring and building a horse ranch where he can live out the rest of his years in peace. But, with mere days left on the job, Will is presented with the problem of renegade Coyotero Apaches on the warpath, and it's his job to help round the renegades up, and return them to the reservation where they belong. Add into the mix a romantic subplot that features Will and another man's wife and you have a thoroughly engaging and exciting read.
The strengths of this novel are many, the writing is top notch, the characters are immensely interesting, and the story never wears out its welcome. Like I mentioned earlier, if this is a good example of what to expect from Brian Garfield, than I am hooked, and I plan on looking for more from this amazing author.
Honestly speaking, the only reason that I bought this book was because of the blurb on the cover that read; 'the author of Death Wish.' When you're looking at fifty cent novels at your local thrift store, you find yourself being a little more willing to take chances, and that tiny blurb seemed like a decent enough reason to take a chance. I'm glad I did.
-W. Jay Pinto
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