Hidden Gold by Steve Frazee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I actually listened to the audio book version as read by Jeff Harding. I really enjoyed this western detective yarn. Brock Sergeant is out to find the murderer of his friend, Pat Valpondo, and the whereabouts of a stolen shipment of gold. Getting there requires quite a bit of detective work and reading the character and motivations of the men (and some women) he encounters in the town of Weston, Colorado. Wonderfully descriptive, with a really authentic and expressive reading from Harding. His repertoire of voices for the different characters are spot on (I particularly liked his reading of the Mexican, Benny Piazz). My only complaint would be his voice for the female characters was overly mannered, and made them sound a bit petulant. The story got quite convoluted towards the end and I had trouble keeping track of what was what (especially since I listened to the entire recording while driving - sometimes in heavy traffic!). It reminded me of a cross between Raymond Chandler and Louis L'amour. Some nice hard-bitten red-eyed imagery, and a good read (or listen) for all would-be buckaroos. I definitely want more.



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