Apache Lawman

U.S. Marshal Piedmont Kelly #5

by Phil Dunlap

After he discovers an empty army prison wagon and some dead bodies just outside of Cochise, US Marshall Piedmont Kelly is even more surprised to find out Sheriff John Henry Stevens has been kidnapped. While Kelly deals with the confusion that has erupted in town, his Apache partner, Spotted Dog, tracks the escaped prisoners through the scorching desert of the Arizona Territory.


As if a missing top lawman in town wasn’t bad enough, Cochise’s craven mayor has sworn in a total stranger as the new deputy sheriff. Carter Standish is a fast-talking braggart whose epic tales of heroism immediately arouse suspicion. Kelly doesn’t trust him, and when he discovers that the local bank is about to become the temporary repository for a hundred thousand dollars in payroll, he starts to have even more reservations about this newcomer. But with Kelly and Spotted Dog working a one-two punch, they’ve set out to foil the bank plot, get the prisoners back on the road to the justice they deserve, and smoke out Standish’s true intentions.

Genres: Westerns

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2012

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one despite the patchy plot. Even though the title is Apache Lawman, the Apache is a side character rather than major character. Presented, some information about him, but he's too periphery for the title. This is book 4, so maybe this was just intended as an intro.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murderous prison break, a sheriff kidnapped on the eve of a local election, a stand-in deputy who clearly is not who he claims to be, a marriage-minded army belle, and racial mistrust combine to give U.S. Deputy Marshal Piedmont Kelly a weeks-long headache in Phil Dunlap’s Apache Lawman.

At the same time Kelly is uncovering machinations that tie a ruthless outlaw gang to the army and a large payroll shipment, he’s also fending off unwanted attention from a colonel’s head-in-the-clouds daughter while romancing a down-to-earth café owner. On top of that, when Kelly defiantly hands a badge to “the enemy” — an aging Apache who once saved Kelly’s life — he puts both of them at odds with every bigot in the territory.

Readers probably will figure out the mystery well before Kelly puts all the pieces together, but that doesn’t compromise the fun of watching the marshal dangle at the end of several strings. Unlike Kelly, readers are privy to the thoughts of almost every character in the book: Kelly, the sheriff, both women, the titular Apache lawman, and most members of the outlaw gang (both overt and covert). A very traditional western, Apache Lawman is liberally sprinkled with humor and just enough misdirection to keep readers moving until the good are rewarded and the bad get their just desserts.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apache Lawman (U.S. Marshal Piedmont Kelly #4)

Dunlap takes you back in time to the 19th century to the southwestern part of Arizona when U.S. Marshal's and the U.S. Army were the primary means of enforcing the law. The Indian war was over, but not everyone's opinion of Indians had accepted them as something other than savages to be shot on sight. Marshal Kelly knew his new deputy, Spotted Dog, would raise some eyebrows, but Kelly knew that Spotted Dog would be vital to keep the unlawful crooks in line and enforce the law according to the oath that went with both their badges. Dunlap takes some liberties in his story, but this is a book you'll enjoy, and will find it hard to put down before you reach the end. I now have a new author to see what else I can learn about the old west.