What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lawyer
The Lawyer: Six Guns at Sundown
Seething hatred spurs The Lawyer forward, with a burning vengeance for his family slaughtered by seven hardened gunslingers. He’s tracking them down, one by one, until every killer is in the ground. His next target, Big Jim Kimbrough, left tracks to the small town of Sundown, Arkansas, where The Lawyer learns his prey has already moved on. But he can’t leave after he witnesses a black man named Josiah being dragged behind a horse, the man’s only crime is allegedly taking food from a white man’s table, and is about to be lynched. The Lawyer takes up arms to save Josiah, realizing Kimbrough is slipping from his grasp with every minute he spends in Sundown. None of that will matter, though, if The Lawyer doesn’t survive the next twelve hours in the wake of a racially charged mob, fueled by the town’s tyrant and cheap liquor. Eric Beetner (The Year I Died Seven Times) is no stranger to writing terse, action-packed storylines. He shifts his gifted prose from modern crime tales to the gritty world of the Old West without missing a beat. SIX GUNS AT SUNDOWN is a riveting Western that continually tightens its grip to the last provocative page.
- GenresWesterns
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2016
11 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Eric Beetner
105 books120 followersBIO:
Eric Beetner has been hailed as “the new maestro of noir,” by Ken Bruen and “The 21st Century’s answer to Jim Thompson” by LitReactor.
He has written more than 2 dozen novels and his short stories has been featured in over 30 anthologies and along the way he’s been nominated for an ITW award, a Shamus, Derringer and three Anthony awards. He’s won none of them.
Novels include There and Back, All The Way Down, Two In The Head, Rumrunners, The Devil Doesn't Want Me and many more.
For more visit ericbeetner.com
Eric Beetner has been hailed as “the new maestro of noir,” by Ken Bruen and “The 21st Century’s answer to Jim Thompson” by LitReactor.
He has written more than 2 dozen novels and his short stories has been featured in over 30 anthologies and along the way he’s been nominated for an ITW award, a Shamus, Derringer and three Anthony awards. He’s won none of them.
Novels include There and Back, All The Way Down, Two In The Head, Rumrunners, The Devil Doesn't Want Me and many more.
For more visit ericbeetner.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 16, 2016
Author Eric Beetner continues the excellent The Lawyer series published by Beat to a Pulp with his entry Six Guns At Sundown. The Lawyer, who used to go by the name of J. D. Miller, is on a quest to find those responsible for the brutal murders of his entire family. He now delivers justice by way of the gun and no longer relies on the courts to provide justice to those wronged.
He moves from place to place on his mare, Redemption, as he follows the trail of those responsible. He is currently pursuing a man known far and wide as “Big Jim Kimbrough.” The trail seems to be leading him to the decrypt town of Sundown where every building seems to lean a different way as if the entire town was created by drunks. At least he can find a place for his horse and roof for the night. The Westward Railroad might be coming there to build not only the rail line and their headquarters, but for now the place is clearly in a bad way.
So is the man dragged in on a rope behind a horse early the next morning. The Lawyer had planned to move on until the unfolding spectacle put his plans on hold. According to a Mr. Buchanan who dragged the unfortunate man by way of a rope tied to his horse he is to be lynched. The black man’s crime was that was that he ate a piece of cherry pie Buchanan’s wife made right out of the pan and using Buchanan’s own silverware. Not that dragging the hogtied man on the ground behind the horse the entire way from the ranch to town wasn’t enough Buchanan intends to hang him as fast as possible.
The lawyer hates bullies and won’t stand for them. He also believes in the rule of law and wants to know the full details of the situation. Not only is what the man did not a hanging offense in this period after the Civil War, Buchanan’s attitude seems to be illustrative of a town attitude that needs to change. The hunt for Big Jim Kimbrough will have to wait as the lawyer is going to prevent a hanging in Six Guns At Sundown.
Picking up the mantle laid down by Wayne D. Dundee in The Lawyer: Stay Of Execution followed by The Lawyer: The Retributioners author Eric Beetner has crafted a very good western tale. The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown is a western tale of mystery and racism that resonates strongly with events of today. The read does not preach as the storyline moves over a couple days period in the Old West. The result is another excellent tale in the series and yet another very good read from Beat to a Pulp.
I picked this up by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account to read and review back in late February.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
He moves from place to place on his mare, Redemption, as he follows the trail of those responsible. He is currently pursuing a man known far and wide as “Big Jim Kimbrough.” The trail seems to be leading him to the decrypt town of Sundown where every building seems to lean a different way as if the entire town was created by drunks. At least he can find a place for his horse and roof for the night. The Westward Railroad might be coming there to build not only the rail line and their headquarters, but for now the place is clearly in a bad way.
So is the man dragged in on a rope behind a horse early the next morning. The Lawyer had planned to move on until the unfolding spectacle put his plans on hold. According to a Mr. Buchanan who dragged the unfortunate man by way of a rope tied to his horse he is to be lynched. The black man’s crime was that was that he ate a piece of cherry pie Buchanan’s wife made right out of the pan and using Buchanan’s own silverware. Not that dragging the hogtied man on the ground behind the horse the entire way from the ranch to town wasn’t enough Buchanan intends to hang him as fast as possible.
The lawyer hates bullies and won’t stand for them. He also believes in the rule of law and wants to know the full details of the situation. Not only is what the man did not a hanging offense in this period after the Civil War, Buchanan’s attitude seems to be illustrative of a town attitude that needs to change. The hunt for Big Jim Kimbrough will have to wait as the lawyer is going to prevent a hanging in Six Guns At Sundown.
Picking up the mantle laid down by Wayne D. Dundee in The Lawyer: Stay Of Execution followed by The Lawyer: The Retributioners author Eric Beetner has crafted a very good western tale. The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown is a western tale of mystery and racism that resonates strongly with events of today. The read does not preach as the storyline moves over a couple days period in the Old West. The result is another excellent tale in the series and yet another very good read from Beat to a Pulp.
I picked this up by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account to read and review back in late February.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
January 17, 2023
Beetner has yet to let me down in 6-7 reads. This little one did feel a little like a "woke" western if that is an issue to you, you might want to stick to Longarm or my personal favorite the White Squaw series.
January 14, 2018
This book read like an episode of a television western I would watch. Well done!
January 29, 2025
Fun in the old west! Enjoyable short story that has good character development.
May 18, 2016
Great writing is about two things - the theme, and the relationships between the characters. And what great writers can do is take these elements and transpose them through space and time. In the case of Six Guns at Sundown, Beetner has chosen the Old West as his arena. I love cowboy stories, so when I chanced upon this novella, I jumped all over it.
Six Guns at Sundown is classic Western fare, with a noir flavour. The Lawyer is on the trail of Big Jim Kimbrough - the man that slaughtered his family. And he will stop at nothing to track him down. Well, almost nothing. A dying man leads him to the town of Sundown - a lawless hell of a town - a town run by whatever loud-mouthed, trigger-happy lunatic happens to be shouting the loudest at the time. On this occasion, the current loud-mouthed, trigger-happy lunatic goes by the name of Buchanan - a rancher a rancher of with a perceived injustice for which he wants revenge.
But there are two sides to every story. And when The Lawyer rides into town, he is going to make sure Buchanan understands that - whether Buchanan likes it or not.
Six Guns at Sundown is a brilliantly written slice of Western noir, from one of the finest crime/noir writers around. It is the third in a series of novella based on characters created by Edward A. Grainger, author of the excellent Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles adventures. If you love your Western reading on the Clint Eastwood Unforgiven side, I highly recommend this series.
Six Guns at Sundown is classic Western fare, with a noir flavour. The Lawyer is on the trail of Big Jim Kimbrough - the man that slaughtered his family. And he will stop at nothing to track him down. Well, almost nothing. A dying man leads him to the town of Sundown - a lawless hell of a town - a town run by whatever loud-mouthed, trigger-happy lunatic happens to be shouting the loudest at the time. On this occasion, the current loud-mouthed, trigger-happy lunatic goes by the name of Buchanan - a rancher a rancher of with a perceived injustice for which he wants revenge.
But there are two sides to every story. And when The Lawyer rides into town, he is going to make sure Buchanan understands that - whether Buchanan likes it or not.
Six Guns at Sundown is a brilliantly written slice of Western noir, from one of the finest crime/noir writers around. It is the third in a series of novella based on characters created by Edward A. Grainger, author of the excellent Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles adventures. If you love your Western reading on the Clint Eastwood Unforgiven side, I highly recommend this series.
September 29, 2016
‘There was a time when The Lawyer would have said no man deserved to die in the dirt. That time had long past.’
The Lawyer was once a good man who did his work with the law on his side. Following on from the murder of his family he’s still a good man, only now he’s prepared to use different tools to find justice.
He’s on the trail of Big Jim Kimbrough and winds up in a town called Sundown. While there he is horrified by an act of barbarity carried out by local bully Buchanan who drags a local black man into town to be hung because he’s stolen a slice of pie. The Lawyer can’t tolerate this and steps in to try and alter the planned course of events. Unfortunately, Buchanan has the backing of twisted minds and those who rely on him for employment. Intervention means going up against practically the whole town.
With only one ally, The Lawyer draws his line in the sand and becomes the target of the deranged mob that doesn’t appreciate his set of values.
The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown is a quick and enthralling read. The usual Western props are present in abundance and the action is delivered with the tension and pace that you can confidently expect in a story by Eric Beetner. Themes of the underdog against the hoard and of the just against the brutes may be commonplace, but the element of racism that forms a key platform for the tale brings an extra dimension that is compelling and offers a reminder that though things have changed, there’s still a way to go.
The Lawyer was once a good man who did his work with the law on his side. Following on from the murder of his family he’s still a good man, only now he’s prepared to use different tools to find justice.
He’s on the trail of Big Jim Kimbrough and winds up in a town called Sundown. While there he is horrified by an act of barbarity carried out by local bully Buchanan who drags a local black man into town to be hung because he’s stolen a slice of pie. The Lawyer can’t tolerate this and steps in to try and alter the planned course of events. Unfortunately, Buchanan has the backing of twisted minds and those who rely on him for employment. Intervention means going up against practically the whole town.
With only one ally, The Lawyer draws his line in the sand and becomes the target of the deranged mob that doesn’t appreciate his set of values.
The Lawyer: Six Guns At Sundown is a quick and enthralling read. The usual Western props are present in abundance and the action is delivered with the tension and pace that you can confidently expect in a story by Eric Beetner. Themes of the underdog against the hoard and of the just against the brutes may be commonplace, but the element of racism that forms a key platform for the tale brings an extra dimension that is compelling and offers a reminder that though things have changed, there’s still a way to go.
February 17, 2017
Good book
I like both book by this author, looking forward to all other ones. Beetner has his own style, manner of sorts that is very fluid and alive for lack of better word. Real treat today for me
I like both book by this author, looking forward to all other ones. Beetner has his own style, manner of sorts that is very fluid and alive for lack of better word. Real treat today for me
February 6, 2017
Man on vengeance trail, stops off in small town to fight racism.
March 12, 2016
This Western lies somewhere between the G-rated old TV shows (like "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza) and the hard R of more recent fare (like "Deadwood"). It's an episode in a series, which heightens the TV feeling of it, and it works well as such. Eric Beetner applies his well-honed craft to this genre and shows that he's capable in it too.
Would I tune in to this series again? Yes.
Would I tune in to this series again? Yes.
March 2, 2016
Good read
Again the Lawyer saves the day. Well written story, a bit hackneyed, but good. A quick and easy read. This is the second Lawyer book I've read and I enjoyed them both.
Again the Lawyer saves the day. Well written story, a bit hackneyed, but good. A quick and easy read. This is the second Lawyer book I've read and I enjoyed them both.
March 20, 2016
Really good book
I really enjoyed this book. I like that Smith stood up for justice of a black man. I hope to read to see if he finds the man who killed his family.
I really enjoyed this book. I like that Smith stood up for justice of a black man. I hope to read to see if he finds the man who killed his family.
March 22, 2016
Good Read
Well Eric Beetner, I know you are out there now. The book was well thought out. Well written. I have no complaints. You done a excellent job.
Well Eric Beetner, I know you are out there now. The book was well thought out. Well written. I have no complaints. You done a excellent job.
March 25, 2016
A very formula western of very modest aspirations that it fully lives up to.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews