Longarm and the Deadwood Shoot-Out

Longarm #411

by Tabor Evans

Stagecoach thieves are planning a twelve-gauge surprise…When hooded stagecoach robbers accidentally steal a strongbox containing U.S. mail along with their loot, they make the mistake of committing a federal crime—and tangling with U.S. Deputy Marshal Custis Long.   The robbers have a clear M.O.—always working as a pair, they hide their faces and do their talking only with their shotguns. With little to go on in terms of the thieves’ identity, Longarm follows a trail of clues to a Deadwood bordello, where he learns that a little pillow talk might just get a man killed…

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 29, 2013

About the author

Tabor Evans is the author of the long-running Longarm western series, featuring the adventures of Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long. Tabor Evans, is a house pseudonym used by a number of authors. The pseudonym of Tabor Evans would begin in the 1970s when Lou Cameron established it for the Jove Books publishing label. Lou Cameron helped create the character and wrote a number of the early books in the series. The first book was published in 1978. Other authors known to have written books in the series include Melvin Marshall, Will C. Knott, Frank Roderus, Chet Cunningham, J. Lee Butts, Gary McCarthy, James Reasoner, Jeffrey M. Wallmann, Peter Brandvold and Harry Whittington. In addition there are 29 "Giant" editions published as well.

The Longarm series is a mainstay of the "adult western" genre which arose in the 1970s. These books are distinguished from classical westerns by the inclusion of more explicit sex and violence.

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the longest 182 page book I have ever read. It took me three days to read it cause I just was not drawn into the mystery with intrigue or the story with action. There wasn't any real character to hold my attention either because the interactions Custis has with some of the other characters is so sparse and short they don't develop anything.

The action is lagging and the mystery is non-existent until around page 130 and you can guess who has been robbing the stagecoaches.

Longarm is an interesting character but that interest isn't peaked early enough to keep a bored reader reading.

I plan on giving this series another chance.

[Steven Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not one of the better Longarm books as this one concentrates more on Longarm bed-hopping than actually being a lawman. The women he beds are shallow, not very well-developed characters that appear to be added solely for the sake of giving Longarm a variety of bed partners rather than plot or story development.

I gave this book a second read, just to see if I remembered how mediocre it was.

# of women Longarm sleeps with: 5