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Waxahachie Smith #1
No Finger on the Trigger
Cow thieves and killers were making Bonham County an easy place to die and a likely place for a range war between the angry Chicano and gringo ranchers. The lone Texas Ranger sent to quell the trouble had a reputation as a fast gun. A bullet between a desperado's eyes soon proved his aim was as good as his fame. But a single act of savagery would threaten the lean, tall Texan's ability ever to shoot again...and light a fire of hate in his heart that only .44-caliber justice could satisfy.
- GenresWesterns
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
14 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
J.T. Edson
183 books79 followersJohn Thomas Edson is an English writer of Westerns.
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 30, 2023
I found “No Finger on the Trigger” by J. T. Edson (1985) in a community library and took it to read at work. It’s a Western novel that, from its title onward, is pretty pulpy and corny. The dialogue especially was written like a parody of what wild-west vernacular would sound like. I was brought to mind of the special features of “Deadwood” where the director admitted that he had to abandon his carefully researched period dialogue because it sounded more comical than anything; maybe Edson (who was British) did research what he was writing a little too carefully and got the same result?
This is also easily the work of fiction that uses footnotes the most heavily, at least that I’ve seen. This was not only odd, but many of them were to the effect that “if you want to learn more about this character, read my other book: [insert title here]!”, which got annoying. Other footnotes were there to explain some detail of a gun, saddle, holster, or other Western accoutrement. These were partially helpful to the uninitiated, but also seemed out of place, as most novels don’t do that.
Also notable was the use of exclamation points at the end of sentences where a period would have been more appropriate! This happened very often throughout the book! It was often comical just how odd it seemed!
The story itself is about a Texas Ranger who is dispatched to a brewing range war to see who is stealing cattle and killing people. The story isn’t bad and there’s even some very creative plot twists to balance out the many Western cliches. The author does seem knowledgeable about the Wild West and likes to show off a bit just how much he knows (often in those footnotes) but that seems to give the book a bit of a confident feel too and erases uncertainty.
The author also sprinkles in some political commentary, including a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about how he refuses to use the Metric System except when it comes to the original names of firearm cartridges; an odd disclaimer to place in a novel taking place in Reconstruction Era Texas. At least one of the footnotes alludes to how the name of a Texas town where the local sheriff would whip offenders, written into the book but apparently a real thing, was changed “to keep the left-wing crowd from having another cudgel to beat down the reputation of law enforcement” or something like that. If that’s a historical thing, shouldn’t it be discussed? If cops did whip people - and you think that’s bad - then why support the reputation of cops unconditionally? Also, why write that into your book if you don’t want that information to get out?
Anyway, it was a readable novel that helped pass the time at work but I think this one is going back into the community library. I don’t really see myself reading it again.
This is also easily the work of fiction that uses footnotes the most heavily, at least that I’ve seen. This was not only odd, but many of them were to the effect that “if you want to learn more about this character, read my other book: [insert title here]!”, which got annoying. Other footnotes were there to explain some detail of a gun, saddle, holster, or other Western accoutrement. These were partially helpful to the uninitiated, but also seemed out of place, as most novels don’t do that.
Also notable was the use of exclamation points at the end of sentences where a period would have been more appropriate! This happened very often throughout the book! It was often comical just how odd it seemed!
The story itself is about a Texas Ranger who is dispatched to a brewing range war to see who is stealing cattle and killing people. The story isn’t bad and there’s even some very creative plot twists to balance out the many Western cliches. The author does seem knowledgeable about the Wild West and likes to show off a bit just how much he knows (often in those footnotes) but that seems to give the book a bit of a confident feel too and erases uncertainty.
The author also sprinkles in some political commentary, including a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about how he refuses to use the Metric System except when it comes to the original names of firearm cartridges; an odd disclaimer to place in a novel taking place in Reconstruction Era Texas. At least one of the footnotes alludes to how the name of a Texas town where the local sheriff would whip offenders, written into the book but apparently a real thing, was changed “to keep the left-wing crowd from having another cudgel to beat down the reputation of law enforcement” or something like that. If that’s a historical thing, shouldn’t it be discussed? If cops did whip people - and you think that’s bad - then why support the reputation of cops unconditionally? Also, why write that into your book if you don’t want that information to get out?
Anyway, it was a readable novel that helped pass the time at work but I think this one is going back into the community library. I don’t really see myself reading it again.
March 28, 2022
I came across "No Finger on the Trigger" in an odd way, a Reddit post about 'books with an insane plot twist." I'd read some of the other recommendations and figured I'd give it a try.
Bad decision! This is one step up from gibberish, and not a big step.
Every stereotype ever thought of is brought out to play and the writing is abysmal. There's a lot of Footnotes - mostly serving little or no purpose
The whole thing is a mess.
Wikipedia notes about J. T. Edson:- "In an article for Time magazine in February 1999, he declared that unlike such authors as Louis L'Amour, he had "no desire to have lived in the Wild West, and I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle."
It's blindingly obvious that he was telling the truth - this is not a Western, it is a travesty.
I struggled through 53 pages before I gave up.
1 Star.
Bad decision! This is one step up from gibberish, and not a big step.
Every stereotype ever thought of is brought out to play and the writing is abysmal. There's a lot of Footnotes - mostly serving little or no purpose
The whole thing is a mess.
Wikipedia notes about J. T. Edson:- "In an article for Time magazine in February 1999, he declared that unlike such authors as Louis L'Amour, he had "no desire to have lived in the Wild West, and I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle."
It's blindingly obvious that he was telling the truth - this is not a Western, it is a travesty.
I struggled through 53 pages before I gave up.
1 Star.
August 17, 2012
Very good book. Well written. A must read for a western reader.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews