KEMP

by Voyle Glover

Dade Kemp had made himself a reputation as a tough lawman over the years. He was tolerant of the rowdy cowboys, but they all understood there was a line they could not cross with him. Kemp kept the law in the county and did a good job of it, until the arrival of Rafe Scallon. This tall, dark-haired, handsome man did what Kemp could never quite manage to do, though he’d tried. Scallon got Laura Colter to fall in love with him. Indeed, the man also got her father, a long time friend of Kemp’s, to hire him as ramrod of his ranch. But Kemp knew some things they didn’t know about Rafe Scallon. So, Kemp begins an investigation into the mysterious rustling going on in the valley. He knows one man is behind it all, and he knows who that man is, but without proof, Kemp can do nothing. After a brutal fight in town between Kemp and Scallon, Laura becomes furious with Kemp. And, old man Colter is not too happy with Kemp, either. In spite of their long friendship, Colter puts Kemp on notice that he’ll not tolerate any more bad talk about Scallon. At one point, in the home of Colter with Laura and Scallon present, Kemp tells the "Scallon, I'll wait for you to tangle your loop one day. Reckon lots of rope is getting short around here, including yours, old son." This stirring western tale brings back images of the Old West as it tough men, wild cattle, rustlers preying on the local ranchers, and a few good men like Dade Kemp who are willing to go toe-to-toe with the outlaws, meeting them on their terms. ------------------------------ A gunslinger in the Wild West was fairly uncommon. A cowboy chasing “cow critters” could be found throughout the Old West. In western books, historical fiction novels, or western novels, the western cowboys are a dime a dozen . (Maybe that’s where the phrase “dime novel” arose.) Cowboy stories were common on the western open range, and those cowboys told a lot of those stories, but cowboy novels were largely exaggerated exploits of some known person. There was seldom any real western history, but mostly pure adventure novels (with a lot of fantasy). A “cowboy western,” was pretty uncommon during the early days of western novels. Usually, the greatest westerns were about some gunslinger in the Old West, or a marshal or sheriff made larger than life, or a mountain man or Indian fighter (such as Buffalo Bill). This is another western fiction novel of the highest caliber, an action packed adventure from Brevia Books by Voyle Glover, an author one reader said “reminds me of Louis L’Amour’s books. He was my favorite when it came to westerns.”

46 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2011