The Overland Kid: A Western Trio (Five Star First Edition Western Series)

By Max Brand

Book Overview

A CLASSIC TRIO Max Brand created a number of immortal Western characters in his brilliant career, and certainly one of the most popular was Reata, the man who preferred a lasso to a gun. In the title... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786218460
• ISBN13: 9780786218462
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Five Star
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Good collection of novellas

Many of the Leisure reprints of Max Brand's work are not actually novels but collections of novellas, often not related at all, either in year of publication or pseudonym. Luckily, this does not matter so much as Frederick Faust (under whatever name he wrote) was such a good writer that it is hard to go wrong with his work at any length. The Overland Kid is one such collection, containing three novellas, with the title story starring his famous series character, Reata. The title piece, "The Overland Kid," is the last and longest, the sixth of the very popular Reata stories from the 1930s (this one was published in 1934); George Owen Baxter was the official author of this series of stories, connected by little other than the main character. It is also the weakest in this collection, mainly because it's main character, Reata, a man who eschews guns in favor of his trusty lariat, is simply too good to be true. Reata's method of getting into trouble is by returning stolen gold to the bank it was stolen from. Thus, the man who stole it wants it back and tries to get people to kill Reata and get "his" gold back. These include the Overland Kid, a gunfighter considered nigh unbeatable. It's still a good read, though it is a bit long at 110 pages, and the other two are simply better. But Reata fans will probably enjoy it. But first up in The Overland Kid is "The Cabin in the Pines," first published in 1922 under the John Frederick pseudonym. It concerns Babe Rourke and Angus Cairn, two men who are so great in their own circles that hearing of the reputation of the other causes them to seek each other out for a confrontation; they are enemies just by their very existence. When they eventually run into each other, they decide to take their feud up to the title location. There they meet up with Nell, a woman in distress, whereupon they must put aside their differences and work together to save Nell from her pursuers (while each wooing her in his own way). The author makes Babe and Angus two easily distinguishable characters linked only by their superiority to other men, and watching them seethe at each other while doing their best to hide this from Nell, who favors different things about each man, is some great entertainment. The ending is quite abrupt, though, and is not quite satisfying. But the best piece by far in The Overland Kid is the second novella, entitled "Joe White's Brand," also published in 1922, though under the George Owen Baxter byline. Thirty years ago, Joe White was called "Young Stallion on Fire" by the Indians, but that was three decades ago and time has taken a lot of the fire out of this no-longer-young stallion. But it has not hindered his reputation and he is constantly on the run from young up-and-comers looking for a quick buck from the reward and a quick reputation for killing the legend. This time, a skinny fellow wearing a red bandanna is after Joe and eventually wipes out his entire posse, some killed, some leaving