I believe this entry in the Lassiter series is one of a handful written by Peter Mccurtin. The writing style certainly matches with books I've read that he did write. I really liked the angle of Lassiter getting to wear a badge as reward for ridding the town of a few hard cases, the irony of course is that he has his own nefarious plans, being an outlaw himself. the ending was a little disappointing in that one particular person didn't die that should have, but overall this was a good read, though not as fast paced as other mccurtin books.