The Night It Rained Bullets

Marshal Jeremy Six #2

by Brian Wynne (Pseudonym), Brian Garfield

It started out with four drunken gunslingers raising the devil in a local saloon. Jeremy Six, marshal of Spanish Flat, knew it was going to be tough enough to silence that bunch.

But Spanish Flat was in for more than just that little ruckus that night. The tough little crossroads town was in for a blizzard that would make the roads impassable, that would drive the temperature down to zero and the frustrated anger of its frontier toughs up to boiling.

And then would come the refugees from the storm — the chilly-eyed killer riding in from the outlaw trail and the two-legged wolves from their rangeland hide-outs.

They'd all be playing hell in Spanish Flats. And if there was to be a town still standing there tomorrow, it would be up to Jeremy to survive THE NIGHT IT RAINED BULLETS.

Ace Double Western #M-128.

Genres: Westerns

130 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prolific and talented author Brian Garfield, writing as Brian Wynne, wrote several Westerns taking place in the fictional town of Spanish Flat starring hard-boiled Marshal Jeremy Six. Here the town is invaded by three exceedingly psychotic and brutal outlaws during a winter snowstorm, The arrival of a gambler with a gunslinger reputation, and a drunken rich gambling troublemaker add to the explosive situation which soon escalates out of control resulting in Six having to make some hard decisions and resort to some serious violence. I tend to like stories that take place in confined locations due to conditions that the characters don’t have control of, storms, hurricanes, etc. Tarantino’s Hateful Eight comes to mind. A single day compressed timeline ramps up the tension to a blistering pace making this difficult to put down. A fine novel and an easy four stars.

[Regan MacArthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you only want to read one western by Brian Garfield, make it Sliphammer. If you want to read another western by Brian Garfield, make the second one The Last Hard Men. If you want three, get Tripwire. All right, I think I've made my point. Onto the review...
The Night It Rained Bullets is a story told by an author who clearly knows what he's doing but would maybe rather be doing something else. I could be wrong. Garfield did manage to churn out five or six more books in this series. And sincerity can be overrated in making of art and entertainment.
What did I like about the book? Well, the opening chapter was great fun as we watch the Marshal stand off some ruffians and I was very impressed by how the author evoked the blizzard that cripples the town for most of the story. Also, how the different plot threads are tied to together neatly at the end. There was a point when I thought, "Wait, how's he going to make this cohere?" I shouldn't have worried. Brian Garfield was a pro. Maybe you won't be surprised by anything in this book but I was and I am grateful for it.
Sadly, the climax and closing lines left me a little cold. Stories with heroes should be stories about the heroes, not about some random dude who wandered into town to wait out the storm. Here's hoping my next foray into this series goes a bit better.