Silver Trail: A Western Story

by Max Brand

A classic Western with all of the favorites—danger, murder, criminals, and gunfights! At twenty-two, John Signal is old enough to have been in a shooting scrape. It was a fair fight, but the man he killed was well-connected. Fleeing Signal arrives in the mining town of Monument, calling himself John Alias. Almost immediately his horse is stolen. He learns the name of the thief, Sam Langley, and even where he is. Sheriff Peter Ogden, rather than pursuing the thief, Alias he will make him a deputy if he succeeds in retrieving his horse. Alias manages to get his horse back, but not without violence. Sheriff Ogden makes good on his promise while explaining the local power structure. The Bone faction is behind most of the crimes in the district. On the other side is Town Marshal Fitzgerald Eagan, his brothers, and consumptive gambler and gunman Major Paul Harkness. Of the two, Sheriff Ogden is partial to the Bones faction and advises Alias to follow suit. But Alias is impressed with Eagan, especially when the marshal sides with Alias in a gunfight with two assassins from the Bones faction. Alias’s escape from the trap makes the Bones faction more determined than ever to do him in and the Eagans—who turn out to be just as crooked and bloodthirsty as the Bones faction—more anxious than ever to have him join them.

Genres: Westerns

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2009

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

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Brand is the pseudonym of Fredrick Faust. Faust was a prolific writer across a variety of genre. In the western genre, he wrote “Destry” which was made into a popular movie. In the medical genre, he wrote “Dr. Kildare” which was also made into a popular movie and then T. V. series. He was a war correspondent during World War II and was killed during a battle in Italy. Faust obtained his university degree in Greek and Latin Literature and Mythology. He wrote under fifteen pseudonyms and wrote over 300 books.

This book “Silver Trail” was originally written in 1934 as a six-part magazine story entitled “The Sheriff Rides”. The protagonist is John Signal who after a gun fight decided to move to a wild mining town called Monument. He changed his name to John Alias. His horse was stolen and Sheriff Peter Ogden told him if he found and retrieved his horse, he would hire him as a deputy Sheriff. John was successful and was hired as a deputy Sheriff. Apparently, two warring groups were fighting for control of the area and John Alias was caught in the middle.

The book is written in what we now consider an old fashion style of the 1930s. Brand was noted for always having a moral dilemma in his stories not just the usual western theme of good vs evil. Many of his western stories was a classic tale turned into a western format.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is almost seven hours long. Joe Geoffrey does a good job narrating the book. Geoffrey is a voice over artist and audiobook narrator.

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, terrible writing here, and an uninteresting story. I guess one good quality would be that there ARE female characters and they are just as fleshed out as the male characters. (Lack of female characters/presence of simple female characters who are simply objects is a problem with the genre, I hear.) It doesn't pass the Bechdel test, but I'll take what I can get.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This western novel features several unfamiliar characteristics from most western. For instance, the bad guys aren’t all bad and the good guys aren’t always good. The hero of the story is a man running from the law for a murder he committed. And even though his victim may have deserved it, he was the son of the local judge. So, our intrepid hero heads further west into a town named Monument. This silver mining town is ruled by two factions who oppose one another. Both sides are unlawful, but they’ve agreed to follow the law in the town limits and do their outlawing outside of town. Neither faction is all bad. Each side has some redeeming features. Where does the sheriff stand in all this? Once again, a character who cannot be easily defined. Our hero takes on the job of deputy sheriff not knowing who to trust in this town. Plus, no one in town believes he’ll live to see his second day on the job. Well, our hero wants to follow the law and do what’s right. This leads to clashes of will and to violence. Fortunately, our hero is handy with a gun and makes a few allies on both sides of the fence in this town. Plenty of western action with narrow escapes and some quick thinking by our main character keeps him alive for the final showdown between these two opposing factions.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A formula western by Max Brand in which the hero runs from a shooting incident in his home time and winds up in Monument where he is given a job a a deputy sheriff. The results are that he is caught in a struggle between two warring criminal factions.

[Mary Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book.... hard to put down

This is one of Brands best books.... once you start reading you just can't put it down until you are done. He is a very good writer.

[Terry Yaceyko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. Good plot line.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brand draws memorable characters. John 22, acts without thinking, but remembers honor, so we can guess he'll take the foolish road, except for sultry senorita.

Typo: c13 p1 Atrained is A trained; c16 p2 ofshadow is of shadow; c22 p11 ^rw, could be "Aw,;
c22 p12 ofwhite is of white; c23 p 6 "Humph is "Humph"; c32 p3 "Bahf is "Bahf";
c39 p2 for-ward is forward and other - typos

[sarg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old western like my grandfather used to read printed on the old newspaper pocket books