My Latest Read Western: Frank Gruber's The Marshal

Every once in a while, I like to jump into reading a Western. It's a genre that's unfairly dismissed today by many readers, but I remain a fan over the decades, and my interest hasn't flagged any that I can tell. This slim paperback cost originally 35 cents, but I bought it from a secondhand bookstore for a mere 15 cents. How could I go wrong at that price? So, I popped like a big spender and took The Marshal home with me. Frank Gruber is an old pulp writer (1904-69). He wrote for TV and the movies, so he enjoyed a successful and varied career as an author. This story concerns a former Union officer named Thaddeus "Tad" Shad who comes to a new railroad town in Kansas. He's sort of pushed into becoming the ad hoc marshal, and is good at his job. His stern law enforcement upsets the town merchants who don't want to keep the cowboys from spending their money while having a "little fun." Like shooting up the town. Good stuff here. Great final scene, too. If you see any of Gruber's cowboy fiction, grab it. You won't be disappointed. I wasn't.