Lightning of Gold: A Western Story

by Max Brand

In this dramatic and uncanny story, Lefty Bill Ranger is an Alaskan mail carrier. Lefty Bill Ranger reaches Circle City one night in a terrific snowstorm. There he meets Menneval -- a man who is widely feared throughout the territory -- and is offered a job. He is to go to Tuckerville, California, and from there to the mountain fastness where Peter Crosson and his son Oliver live in total isolation. Menneval wants Ranger to watch and report what he sees for a period of six months. The pay for this espionage will be $6,000 in gold. Ranger, attracted by the money, accepts the assignment. In the Sierra Mountains Ranger sets up his camp and, pretending to be a trapper, keeps the Crosson Ranch under surveillance. Ranger is amazed to witness a gigantic mountain lion, pursued by a pack of wolves, followed by a bronzed youth on horseback. This wolf pack seems to be under the guidance of the youth, who carries only a hunting knife. Later, two hardcases fully armed with rifles and revolvers attempt to enter the Crosson range, intent on rustling Crosson cattle. They disappear and, when next Ranger sees them, the men are afoot, covered with wounds, their clothes in tatters, fleeing in terror for their very lives. It is here that Lefty Bill Ranger will experience for the first time what is called the lightning of gold.

Genres: Westerns

266 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2012

About the author

Frederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver

Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in the mood for a quick Western read for a lazy summer afternoon and this book by Max Brand (Frederick Faust) fit the bill perfectly. First appearing as a serial in "Western Story Magazine" in 1931, it was published as a book in 2012. I thought it was a rather unusual type of Western story--more of a version of "The Jungle Book" set in the West.
Grizzled old Lefty Bill Ranger, while in Alaska ( which means this story is set around 1900), is paid to travel to California to check on the activities of a man named Peter Crosson and his son Oliver. It turns out that the Crossons live in a very isolated area of the Sierras. Deep in those mountains, Lefty is amazed to see a youth with long black hair who looks like an Indian ( they did not use the term "Native American" in 1931) running with a pack of wolves. It turns out that it's Oliver. What's going on with the Crossons? And why was Lefty sent on the mission to investigate them? Things take a dangerous turn as outlaws enter the little paradise of the Crossons and threaten their world...

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lefty” Bill Ranger is an honest man. When his partner in an Alaskan gold prospecting claim dies before Ranger can deliver the partner’s share, he refuses to take the lot and donates it to charity. This attracts the attention of Menneval, a man with an evil reputation. Nothing can be proven, but Menneval’s had four partners in Alaska, and none of them is around anymore. Fortunately, Menneval isn’t interested in having a new partner. He wants Ranger to go to California, look up the Crossons, and report back what he finds. Ranger agrees on the condition that this will not harm the Crossons.

In California, it turns out the Crossons, old Peter and his son Oliver, live in a remote area of the mountains and have a peculiar reputation. It’s said that Peter Crosson refuses to have guns on his property. And anyone who goes in to confront the Crossons comes back…changed. They are gunmen and outlaws no more, and they pass out of the country. Rumors prove nothing, of course, so Lefty Bill Ranger rides in to the mountains to see for himself, doing some trapping on the side.

The California mountains are an eerie place to Ranger, far from the snowy wastes of Alaska he’s spent most of his life in. The animals seem to have no fear of man, and are larger than he has ever seen before. Especially the wolves. It feels like he’s the one being watched.

Eventually, Ranger gets to see Oliver Crosson, a young man who can run and ride like the wind, and seemingly can control both wolves and pumas. He carries no gun, but can kill a mountain lion with a knife. Ranger then meets Peter Crosson, a former schoolteacher who has raised Oliver in this isolated wilderness for the protection of both his son and the rest of the world. Peter feels there is a curse laid upon the use of powder and shell that will interact with the blood curse of Oliver and lead to the death of many.

While Lefty Bill is on the ranch, other intruders arrive. It is a gang of hard men, led by Chester “Chet” Lyons, who has a grudge against Peter Crosson for not allowing one of his men to rest on the land since the man would not give up his guns. That man then died of his wounds received elsewhere. Also with Chet is his beautiful young cousin Nancy Lyons, who came to California to see if she could talk him into reforming.

Oliver makes two of Lyons’ men vanish, and the gang is forced to retreat. They find their missing men alive, though shook to the core. On the way off the ranch, one of the gang shoots a wolf that was tailing them for petty revenge. Meanwhile, Oliver kept a revolver off one of the vanished men as his trophy. Its potential to deal death intoxicates him.

When Oliver learns that his wolf friend was killed by the Lyons gang, the youth swears vengeance. Can a deluge of blood be stopped?

This…is not what I was expecting in a Max Brand western. Perhaps it should have been given the ending of Torture Trail but somehow I wasn’t ready for how mystical the story seemed. Much is made of Oliver’s connection to nature, ala Mowgli or Tarzan. Keeping how he accomplishes his feats off page for the early going accentuates their uncanny nature as they unnerve his victims.

Unlike Westerns where righteous vengeance is the desired outcome, here the emphasis is on breaking Oliver free from the path of revenge he is on before the young force of nature becomes a danger to himself and others.

Oh, and the “golden lightning” of the title? That turns out to be the effect of just the right woman on a man when they meet. Ranger had that moment, very briefly, in his youth, but now he gets to witness the lightning of gold in all its splendor.

Good: As described above, this is an atypical Western tale with above average pulp writing. I liked the use of balding, middle-aged Lefty Bill as the primary viewpoint character. Oliver is fascinating, and it’s easy to understand why the other characters become interested in him.

Less good: Most of the minor characters are “types” who are just there to move the plot along. One of the major plot twists is heavily telegraphed, and only the rawest of greenhorn readers will miss it. Some readers may find the notion of a child born with an instinct for murder dubious, while others might not like how the “happy ending” requires some evil deeds go unpunished.

Content note: Animals die, especially that one wolf. Brief bullying.

Overall: An excellent example of pulp Western writing that shows the versatility of the genre. Recommended to Western fans looking for something a bit different.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets an extra star or two simply because I listened via audio book and the voice actor was one of the best I've ever heard! Props, Nick Podehl! I liked most of the story, but one main character has such a jarring change in arc from where I thought he was heading (think werewolf vs puppy love), things were just less interesting after that.