I've always enjoyed Brian Garfield's early westerns and APACHE CANYON is no exception. The brutal Arizona desert is nicely developed. The characters are interesting. There is action, a bunch of violence, and even a betrayal. My only beef is that Garfield wrote around a scene -- where a U.S. Cavalry troop was retreating from an Apache war party -- that promised to be terrific. It was likely done to keep the word count within the publisher's limitations, but there was more to the story than is told here and it could have been much better than it is. But it was still a worthwhile escapist read.