Doomsday Mesa
Ex-cavalryman Yale Cannon rides to Antelope for two different reasons: to search for an old sweetheart and as a federal deputy marshal to bring out Red Effingham, a fugitive killer the sheriff has locked up in the ranch town's jailhouse. Cannon arrives on the outskirts to a dispute with two cowpuncher brothers, proddy over rustled beef. After his six-gun talks louder than words, he moves in warily, using one mission as cover for the other. His delving for old time's sake quickly meets opposition but introduces him to suffragist schoolteacher Kate McDowell. Resourceful Kate reveals that hatred between the cattlemen and a settler community led by Abel Pryor, a religious fanatic, is coming to a showdown. With Effingham busted from jail, the clash is set to be violent and bloody
"Doomsday Mesa mixes the truths of Western history with a compelling fictional narrative, and the result is another winning Western drama from a veteran author... O'Keefe has assembled a terrific ensemble cast whose individual stories weave together a complex narrative layered with drama and anticipation. O'Keefe excels at crafting rugged, independent, and believable female characters... Kate doesn't fit the conventional mold of a schoolmarm whose spinster ways melt at first sight of the hero. Far from it Kate is a forthright suffragette, and occupies a position as one of the town's leaders. But she's also cognizant of the weight of her responsibilities, both to the town and to her near-blind father. And of all the characters in the book, her sister Rose is perhaps the most relatable, human, and vulnerable of the bunch. Young, brash, and a romantic at heart, she longs to run away with her lover and rebels against everything her family stands for... Locating universal emotions in his characters is what makes O'Keefe's West so compelling. He doesn't treat the West as some static, dusty entity, but engages with the emotional and moral issues the way real people would have." - Cullen Gallagher at Pulp Serenade
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