The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Western. Cover art by Boris.

Genres: Westerns, Adventure, Fiction, Action

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've owned this book for over ten years, and never read it. It really demonstrates that bookworms buy way too many books. I buy so many books that I can't even get to all of them in a timely manner. Last year, I was so persistent about reading what I own that I bought fewer books than ever, and actually put a sizable dent in my TBR. This year, I've become even more focused.

The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County is a really fine, mystery, western, written by E. R. Burroughs. The genre blend is not an uncommon thing, but one must admit that the mashup doesn't occur as often as one might like.

Here, Buck warns a neighbor about encroaching on his land, which seems to be happening with too great a frequency. When later that night, the neighbor is visited by five masked desperadoes, Buck finds that he must investigate the neighbor's murder. Eventually, suspicion falls on Buck and he disappears which augments suspicion.

When the reader is introduced to a whole cast of characters, after the initial prologue, the reader recognizes the veneer of a murder mystery amplified by western tropes. As the mystery, deepens the reader must also realize that ERB is a more than capable writer regardless of the genre he is currently using as his palette. Clearly, I loved it and could kick myself for taking so long to read this fantastic, classic work.

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this on my bookshelf and realized I didn’t have it in Goodreads. I really only have about a quarter of my stuff on here. Anyway, from what I remember, this was a compelling western in the Burroughs style. Good characters and action. Recommend if you like westerns or are a Burroughs completest.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rocky read this to Adrian while she was in a coma. If it's good enough for the Italian Stallion, it's good enough for me.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ray Bradbury once called Edgar Rice Burroughs "the most influential writer in the entire history of the world." Burroughs is probably most famous for his creations Tarzan and John Carter, among a number of other fantastic stories of adventure and science fiction, and has some 70+ pulp novels to his credit. "The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County," which was published in 1940, is one of only a few westerns Burroughs wrote.

Apparently, this is also the book Rocky was reading to Adrian while she was comatose in Rocky II. Neat.

Buck Mason is the eponymous deputy sheriff and is accused of murder. A rich rancher named Gunderson has been killed and an anonymous tip accused Mason of the killing. Mason goes on the run and then we are introduced to Bruce Marvel, an apparent English dandy who has appeared at a nearby dude ranch seeking western adventure, fully dressed in polo-playing dash and splendor, and he starts to learn the ins and outs of dealing with rough horses, characters, and rich ladies on the ranch. The setting here isn't the old west but later 1930's, with cars, telephones, and mention of Charles Lindbergh.

Possible spoiler alert, Bruce is Buck, of course, incognito; I don't think that is a spoiler to share because it is obvious before page 75 of this 300 page book and they share initials. Bruce/Buck is discretely trying to find out who killed Gunderson, find out where Gunderson's beautiful daughter might be, stay hidden so he isn't arrested, perhaps gain the favor of one of the ladies at the ranch, and clear his real name of wrongdoing.

The cover of the book shows the title as "The Deputy Sheriff of Commanche County" with the two 'm's in the word Comanche, a simple misspelling. I know we readers see misspellings and pronunciation errors in books all the time, but this might be the first time I've seen a misspelling on the dang cover for the title of the book itself, which seems to be a very big oversight and funny as heck. I mean, can you just picture Edgar walking through his local bookstore, seeing this edition of his work on the shelf, and shaking his head in disappointment? lol. Please comment if you've seen other unintentional misspellings in book titles because I'm curious now.

Verdict: An interesting protagonist with a real mystery to solve but who spends most of the novel not actually trying to find out who killed old man Gunderson. It is like a full-length side-trip. The adventure is fun and pays off smartly in the end.

Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just for storytelling and fun I'd give this a 4. But the plot, as often with ERB, depends a fair amount on coincidence and misdirection, and that might bring the score down a bit. This one was pretty easy to figure out, but all in all it was a good fun read.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I saw it in Rocky 2! Weird reason, right?

Anyway, it starts with a murder and a falsely accused man - the deputy sheriff of Comanche County! Then it switches to a dude ranch that really deviated from the opening murder plot, and slowed the story down, in my opinion. And the secret identity thing was none to secret. But when a female member of the dude ranch group is kidnapped, the action picks up and comes to a satisfying ending that also wraps up the opening chapter's murder. A decent enough read, and a really quick one! Maybe not as quick Mason's horse, but quick!

[Rolland Pacheco III · Rating 3 out of 5]

predictable but comfortable to read.

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Deputy Sheriff of Commanche County, 1940, Edgar Rice Burroughs

Gunderstrom lay asleep on a wooden cot against one of the cabin walls. A man was crossing the room stealthily with a long-barreled Colt in his hands.

The almost wild wild west, considering there's a phone or two available, not a lot like today, but some, as well as a car, and buckboards, horses. This splendid little story is just shy of 50,000 words, I'd say, as I typed out a double-spaced 12-pt. page, calculated the remainder, etc etc. 47,500, figuring 250 words per page. I've read a lot of westerns, watched quite a few, too. This is a good story, as westerns go. Burroughs doesn't talk down to you, nor does he lead you on, there is the elements of the story, and as they unravel you learn at the pace that the characters learn. Still not done. I'm savoring it.

i pp 9-19The Line Fence
“a lone rider drew rein before a gate consisting of three poles cut from straight pine saplings.”
…a rack & a pace…horseman terms to describe an easy shuffling gait.
Horse’s name…bulls-eye, cause of a white patch on his right eye. Blue roan.
New Mexico.
A rider, Buck Mason, mustached, comes to ask Ole about the fence, the land, prime for alfalfa
An old man, Ole Gunderstrom, lives in a cabin, (on Spring Creek, five miles from town ) has had the land fenced 20 years, fought w/the rider’s old man about it, who has been dead two years, & the rider tells him he don’t have title to that land. Ole is possibly the richest man, has other homes, ranches, but he lives in this cabin. His wife died. He figures Buck wants Olga so as to get at his riches. Fat chance.
Olga? Buck asks. At 16, when Buck was 18, Six years prior, Ole sent her east, to school, keep her away from the trash of Commanche County.
Buck keeps reading material under lock & key, a possible embarrassment, including a file of Vogue magazine & a book of etiquette.

ii pp 20-32 Who Killed Gunderstrom?
Five horsemen. Midnight. Handkerchiefs tied round their faces. One shoots Ole dead. Nine o’clock in the morning, (not next morning, just morning, a bit awkward) sheriff reading the newspaper, & an old man (Old man, Uncle Billy Cage) leaning in doorway spit, reading as well, & the men ain’t been caught yet….though not awkward, as it appears this has been happening, murders. The telephone rings. Tom Kidder from the Circle G, calls, found Gunderstrom. Mason comes in, hears, goes to the cabin. Sheriff goes for Doc Bellows, (Lizzie…a horse?) Uncle Billy says something about 20 miles of rough road…Lizzie again…car? 20 miles or 5 miles from town…by the trail. Tom Kidder is there w/2 hands from the home ranch. Buck Mason looks it over, sees something about the boot the killer tripped over, knows there’s been five. He leaves. When the sheriff gets back, Uncle Billy Cage tells him of an anonymous caller, blaming Buck. Caller spoke, sounded like he had a harelip.

iii pp 33- 46 Bruce Marvel
The TF Ranch in Porico County, Arizona. Three generations, all good, but 3rd generation, educated at Eastern colleges, softened…etc. Title passed to banks. Banks used a cattle man, cattle man rented to Corey Blaine, pioneer in the dude ranch business. Corey & others sitting on front porch, buckboard approaches, showmanship, bringing a new guy, Bruce Marvel (who seems to be more than he makes out…Buck?) There’s a blond girl in overalls Kay White, another woman in fancy clothes Dora Crowell (who went to school w/Olga Gunderstrom in Philadelphia) , a man from Boston Bert Adams, a Mrs. Birdie & Mr. Benson Talbot, They’re all going riding the next day, the chuck wagon is ahead of them 15 miles. Mason has been missing 3 weeks.
Next morning, the hands make fun of Bruce Marvel’s clothing. There’s a Butts, a bow-legged puncher, one or two not named…two horses named, Crowhop & Baldy. Marvel will ride Baldy.

iv pp 47-61 Kay White
The topping of Baldy. Topping means to get on a horse & let it jump & kick a bit if need be--then it is okay to ride for beginners. Miss Abbie Pruell calls to her niece, Kay, as the group rides away, careful of snakes. Butts tells the other hands that he’s going to get the new guy, Bruce Marvel, the way he rides is disgusting to them. Miss White tries to teach him. 3 days they ride into the wilderness…going to Hi Bryam, owner of 4 good lion dogs for the hunt. Marvel has learned that Kay’s father is a wealth California banker, mother dead, father coming after hunt. He surmises that Corey Blaine is interested in Kay White, troubling, as he does not like Blaine. (Blaine is a pain.) Bud is another cow hand with them, & likeable, unlike Butts. Hy Bryam, disliked by Bruce. 3 days hunting, no success. Bruce is now paired with Dora Crowell, Blaine & Kay White followed. Hy Bryam w/other two dogs, led Dora & Bruce along a ridge. Bert Adams remains in camp w/the Talbots. Blaine tells Kay that he is ignorant, no book learning, like Adams. Corey tells Kay that she’d never marry a cow poke. She disagrees, I’d marry Hy Bryam is I chose. Kay wonders about his motives, her answer to him, whether that might encourage him, or what… or more. Corey stops after a bit, grabs her hand, says he loves her. She says no go, no mas.

v pp 62-77 The Lion Hunt
Dora & Bruce. Dora tells Bruce in more than a few words that he is hiding something, that he rides better, knows more than he makes out. They get to the crest of the ridge, see Kay & Corey on the other ridge. Dora speaks what might be the theme: “It’s funny how so many of us want to be something else beside what we really are…& Kay is no better than the rest of us.” How so? She doesn’t wear overalls & work shirts at home. The theme again, voiced by Dora: “There’s a little false alarm in all of us.” A false alarm is what Dora calls it, as well as Olga, when she was attending school. Dora elaborates, tells “Bruce” (for I think he is Buck in disguise) says that Olga will be coming west. They hear the hounds, Dora speeds off. Bruce takes his boot garters off & tosses them--Dora said they were on backwards.

Cougar lion treed, Kay doesn’t want to shoot him, on the suggestion of one that the two girls shoot as one. He looks free. Hy saws qqc along the lines of shoot em all, too many, we’d have more deer. Like in the Kaibib forest, says Kay, since they killed all the lion, too many deer, starving. Oh my. They must have PETA active there, not to mention all those shithead, asshole Democrats, so-called “progressives,” who want to ban all the guns. Line all the fuckers up & shoot ’em, good riddance to bad trash. Kay shoots, but her horse takes off, Marvel gives chase. He catches her, takes her as she’s riding, her horse falls, he gets it to stand after a bit, fixes the broken rein with a knot that only Corey Blaine noticed Marvel leads Kay’s horse back. They return. Corey says to Bud about the knot, about his riding, & they wonder what the game is.

vi pp 78-89 Hi Bryam
Dora & Kay go to their tent when back, talk of what happened, of Bruce. Dora says she’s heard Bruce slip, as well, in his word usage--& Buck was reading those books--& then Birdie Talbot sticks her head in, saying that Butts & Bryam are back w/the lion. Could you kill a lion w/a revolver, asks Bruce/Buck. Bruce asks to take a few shots w/Corey’s revolver, accidentally (on purpose) fires a round…Bruce finds his bullet, in the bedroll that he shot…he missed the can five times, a dollar was wagered by the Talbots…& Bruce keeps the bullet. Later, Bruce Marvel & Hy Bryam. Talk. Of a sort. Hy, not. Bruce compares their boots, Hy’s being an inch-&-a-half different…an oddity, so it says. Later, Blaine & Butts go to Hy Bryam’s cabin…& a “denser shadow among the pines, seeming to come to rest upon an open window.” Blaine gives this order, Mart & Eddie know what to do…take the south trail…One Mile Creek into Sonora…trail to Kelly’s place from there…qqc bout the old man…no funny stuff he warns em.

vii pp 90-100 The Bur
Next morning, Bruce asks if Baldy is going to be “topped”. Not by Corey. Butts does it, but he stops 200 yards out, picks qqc up…he puts it under saddle. Bruce Marvel takes it out, this yours? Paired up, as before, Dora/Bruce talk, she pesters him who is he. Talk of Corey, apparently he has a mine interest qqc. They go off for periods at a time, she tells Bruce, they got back from a trip 3 weeks before you came to the ranch (the 3 weeks again) Kay & Blaine riding, Blaine is trying to make time, she’s having none of it. After a stop, she pairs up w/Bruce, irritating Blaine.

vii pp 101-114 Fourflushers, All
Kay/Bruce talk…her horse is called Lightfoot (make a note of it). They get to clothes, like Dora/Bruce did, as well. fourflushers is a word that Kay uses to describe those who don clothing to affect a look, whether it be a cowpoke, golfer, polo player or whatever I guess. Later, Bruce (Buck) is surprised that Kay might possibly hold a place he thought reserved for another. So by this point, Burroughs seems to be writing w/the idea that by now, the reader has come around to the idea that Bruce is Buck…or if not, & I wasn’t entirely sure as yet, this chapter cinches the deal. All we need now is a twist, Buck’s twin bother, or something, a la Harry Crews’s Car…she’s my little deuce coupe! You don’t know what I got! Bruce/Buck is thinking of grabbing Kay off her horse & he is lost. He about forgets Olga--she is somewhere else, Kay is present & accounted for, even though there had never been an understanding, he had an understanding, & he’d go to her if she’d never come back. Later, at the campfire, Corey, sullen, is offered $75 by Bruce for Baldy. $100. Bruce peels off 5 20s & hands them over. Baldy’s yourn. Bruce has lost his lucky horse’s tooth. Ha! Later, they go to sleep, all save Kay/Bruce, she asks why he bought Baldy, cause he saved your life. Later still, after setting his bedroll nearby Corey’s, after being down for a bit, he rises up, throws one of Corey’s boots into the fire & pretends to have shooed a coyote away.

ix pp 115-125 The Sorrel Colt
Next morning, no boot is found. Great fun at breakfast. Bruce gets on Baldy after no one will top him, but the horse doesn’t do the usual kick, bounce, & run 200 yards. They ride, Kay beside Bruce. She was awake in the night, saw it, thinks it is small & petty. I’m sorry your saw it, is all he says. They’re back at the home camp. Blaine has old boots, well-worn, two colors of leather, little brass hearts in the center of each heel. Walking, Bruce follows, looking, humming. Bruce asks for a fresh horse, to find a new lucky horse’s tooth. Bruce rides, the horse bucks after a bit, Blaine is surprised, Bruce rides to the rail town where a week before he had debarked. General store, where post office is, writes letter, mails it. Back at the ranch, the guests ask where he is…talk talk…Benson asks if Birdie remembers the English lord, wonderful bridge partner at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson…found out he had escaped from Matteawan, had been an school teacher until he killed his wife for trumping his ace.

x pp126-137 Blaine is Jealous
Out on the porch of an evening…Bud & Butts late, but there. Bruce? They worry about the sorrel colt, figure it might have killed Bruce, but here he comes, says he got lost, says to Butts, take my horse, my man, an insult, but Corey nudges him & he acts. No tooth, but he says he’ll get Bud to take him tomorrow…& Bud agrees to do so…though he isn’t aware of a dead horse. Kay says come on I’ll get you a sandwich. Bruce insults Butts again, Corey retrains him. Asks what’s new. Kay got a letter from pa. Should be soon. Dora says a friend is coming, too, Olga Gunderstrom. Talk of evidence against Buck. An Indian said he saw Buck riding away from cabin late the afternoon of the murder. Figure Mason is one of gang that has been robbing banks & paymasters around here, figure the harelip is a member of the gang, etc. p134, Comanche spelled w/one “n”. Cory Blaine warns Bruce before they turn in to lay off the girls. A fire burns on a ridge.

xi pp 138-152 “That would be Eddie”
Next morning. No “paper chase” Corey has bizz. Arranged for Bud to take em to Crater Mountain. Tooth! Ok. Butts to C.M. Bud & u can tooth hunt. Bruce/Bud…”look at that horse that fell dead” (Corey Blaine’s, mentioned in a previous chapter) Bud has been on the ranch long. His father used to own it. There is a rider in the hills that Bruce sees. They turn and go back. Bruce pretends to lose a spur. Bud is sent on. Bruce sneaks & peaks. Corey talking to 2 others, one is Eddie. Bruce rides, rides, gets in front of the 2, one speaks…funny…talk. Paper chase=tomorrow. Blaine has tried to get rid of Bruce twice now, folk coming from Detroit, need room.

xii pp 153-161 “Goodbye, Kay”
Evening, Bruce smokes on the veranda. Corey/Butts at corral talkin. Kay comes out, talks, she’ll be hare in chase game, but Bruce tells her he is going. Double up w/Bert Adams. She asks why Cory wants him gone. He tries, can’t tell. Next morning, they all know he is leaving. Taking Baldy.

xiii pp 162-173 Marvel Buys an Outfit
Corey, Kay, Bud head out for the chase. Marvel/Butts alone at corral, train due at three. Miss Pruell on veranda, embroidery on lap. She is Kay’s aunt, Kay’s father coming, Kay’s mother, her sister died. Dora, Mrs Talbot w/Kay. Mr White comes in a car. Abbie Pruell/John White. Butts obnoxious; Bruce is brought to town, stays at a hotel. One train is late, freight train wreck. He gets his horse fed & stored.

xiv pp174-187 Kidnapped
Corey, Bud, Kay. Corey instructs Bud on dropping paper, for the chase. 40 miles. Bert Adams won’t sit down again. Corey leads Kay into a wash. She is kidnapped by two who tie up Corey. At the house, Bud returns, followed by the others, followed by Corey’s horse. They figure qqc is up. Will send out Bud w/2 others on fresh horses. Dora convinces Mr White to call the deputy sheriff. The call is placed to the hotel where Bruce answers. The sheriff lives out in country, no phone. Marvel tells White one will ride now, the message will get to Sheriff. Tells the hotel proprietor to tell them to head to Hy Bryam’s shack. Marvel changes into his regular clothes, his 2 .44s, but no one sees him leave. Train arrives, as does Olga Gunderstrom, Butts waiting. No one sees Marvel at the livery. He takes a sack of oats.

xv pp 188-204 One Hundred Thousand Dollars
Butts drives like a BOOH getting back, Olga peeved, they passed Buck/Bruce, though no recognition, too fast. Butts heads out to “look”…unties Blaine. Blaine figures ransom, but no reward when he saves the day.
Butts/Blaine arrive, are told sheriff it out, “west” would have helped sheriff, though he had a tip, making Blaine curious…He asks for “Blue” another horse, to go get her back. White has telegraphed to other sheriffs, Mexico. Butts finds the note from the kidnappers. “Tell Mr White that if he wants to see his daughter alive again to have one hundred thousand dollars in twenty dollar bills ready one week from today at TF Ranch….” Blaine leaves after arranging signals, Horsecamp Butte, and the hill for Butts.

xvi pp 205-217 At Bryam’s Cabin
Bruce riding. At Hi Bryam’s, a watcher sees the light that Buck/Bruce saw. Tells. Name is Mart, campfire this side of Mill Creek. They (3 of em) are fixin to skedaddle. Kay is thinking, Corey, but tied up…Bruce? She questions what he is. The 3 discuss it. Bryam stays, tells a tale, no go he say, won’t work. Deming they went to, say. Eddie is one, Mart the other. Kay excuses herself inside, grabs a pack of cards. Ties handkerchief to a card, drops, tears cards, drops, marks trail.

xvii pp 218-231 Torn Playing Cards
Deputy sheriff of Porico County is ahead Blaine, but in the night, he spots their fire, goes around it, falls in a wash. Horse’s leg is broken. Blaine calls to the posse to help him. Bruce/Buck heard it as well. Bryam, at his shack, watches a horseman approach, thinking it is Blaine, gets his rifle, a Springfield thirty-thirty Bruce plans as he rides, goes up to Bryam’s shack, the dogs greet him, Bryam can’t make out who he is, though he looks familiar to him. He follows the poorly disguised trail, leans over and picks up the handkerchief! Must be a short horse! Ha ha ha ha ha! Bryam, still watchin, recognizes Baldy! Bryam sees that it is that nosey dude, shoots, misses, Bruce fires his .44 Not dead, but hurtin’ He rides on. Bruce says qqc bout Bull’s Eye, talkin to Baldy, who hasn’t had much rest (nor Bruce)

xviii pp 232-244 On the Trail
The posse arrives at Bryam’s. He says go east, gets Corey alone, but dies. Corey blames it on Bruce Marvel, send them on, says he’ll bury Hy. After they leave, he takes off, leaving Hy lay. Bruce finds the Queen of Hearts, or half of her, on the trail he follows. Bruce stops for short breaks. Talks to Baldy. Goes on. Spots a fire, keeps going. Thinks that Blaine is on a horse called Pudding’s Foot. He creeps forward to the place where the fire is, wondering, will there be the two, or will Blaine be there, as he hadn’t seen Pudding Foot’s track, a big one.

xix pp 245-255 “Stick ‘em Up!”
Sees one man reclining, two prone. One reaches, dies. Kay sees it, Mart. He dies. They eat. The saddle up & leave. Kay asks about Mart. Nothing to dig with. She harbors bad feelings about it, about Bruce, later, she reconsiders. Eddie thinks of escape. They head north. Bruce has the scoop on Blaine.

xx pp 256-269 Water!
Blaine on the trail, misreads the sign, believes Marvel is headed to the east, but 4-tracks. He comes on Mart, dead. He spurs for home, thinking, our word--Bryam (dead), Mart (dead), and him--against Marvel, heedless of his horse’s ability or health. Marvel, on the other trail, where years before w/his old man they knew of water, the horses weaken. They rest at the water hole. Blaine is hot to get back. Marvel talks to Eddie, shows him notches (2 more) in the guns, his father’s, a sheriff, who made most of the notches. After resting, they head out.

xxi pp 270-283 “He is Buck Mason”
Blaine is at Bryam’s shack. His horse dies. Bryam is still lying there, too. He saddles his horse, hobbled there. The dogs watch. He makes it to the TF Ranch, to bunkhouse, tells Butts what’s what. Blaine tells Mr White & the others a story. Marvel. Dora doesn’t believe him. Bruce, Kay, Eddie arrive. White accuses him, Olga comes out, accuses him. Marvel gives em Eddie to hold, says he’s a deputy sheriff, walks off. Kay comes back out--she’d gone in. hears.

xxii pp 284-294 “You’re Under Arrest”
Olga tells Blaine,Butts $5000 reward dead or alive for Bruce/Buck. They get their guns. Eddie convinces Olga to free him--he’d been tied in the office. Buck waits for B/B. 2 sheriffs arrives, they arrest Buck. Eddie, fleeing, is stopped by 4 horsemen, the posse.

xxiii pp295-312 The Brass Heart
Buck tells his defense…including how Eddie talks like he has a harelip--he got part of his tongue shot off! Blaine killed Gunderstrom because he was helping the five, held back, etc. In the end, Buck gets the girl, and though that is nicely ambiguous, I think the reader knows which girl he got.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable western with a dash of mystery.

Buck Mason is wrongly accused of murdering his neighbor, so, being the deputy sheriff, he goes undercover to fish out the real killer. There's a smattering of romance along the way and, frankly, not too many surprises. But you can't help but root for Mason as he uncovers the clues and falls for a girl.

ERB took 10 years to find a publisher for the story, and I'm a bit surprised why. Heaven knows the pulps printed worse stuff, but the story is pretty straightforward with little dazzle or imagination. Maybe the publishers expected more from ERB. Maybe it would have sold sooner if ERB had that sweet Boris Vallejo cover from the beginning.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's see... a western? Murder mystery? Pulp adventure? From the author of Tarzan? Yes, all of these, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. (A deputy sheriff who reads? Classics? Shakespeare? Vogue?) The further into the book you get, the more you may doubt that this dense collection of characters, incidents, personality tics and outrageous coincidences may coalesce into something that makes sense...but this is Edgar Rice Burroughs at work, and what he does no one does better.

[Geoffrey Greeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy his writing style, even when I sometimes figure out the plot. Fun reading.

[Jon Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps suffering from not being the total surprise the first Burroughs Western held for me, this one didn't so totally blow me away. But, still, a great book and, like Bandit this is a secret treasure--I mean, they don't seem to get the praise they deserve because they have been hidden so long in Tarzan and John Carter's shadows...

[J.L. Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank GOD for Project Gutenburg! I found SO many of his books there and growing up/living my entire life 20 miles from his Hometown is a big deal. There simply are not that many literary GIANTS in the dusty nowhere towns of west Texas, so Anything written by this great man is a work of art in my eyes. Moving past bias though, with this being a regional piece, I just LOVED this one!
http://www.gutenberg.org/

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A western from the prolific pulp writer.

[eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Deputy Sheriff

Good novel. The story was interesting and simple, easy to read and understand. The mistery of the crime of Ole was kept to the end and it turned out that the old man was ambitious and that cost him his life.

[Cws]

W Bur

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read some time in 1996

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Wonderful book. I enjoyed reading it. Four teen more words left to fill in order to finish this review. Done.