The Last Notch

by Arnold Hano, David Laurence Wilson (Introduction)

Originally published in hardback by Dodd, Mead & Co as by Matthew Gant, The Last Notch is a noir western about an aging, self-hating gunslinger who takes on a job to kill the territorial governor who has become a threat to the local cattle ranchers. As the publisher of Lion Books, Arnold Hano nurtured the careers of Jim Thompson and David Goodis. Under various pseudonyms, he wrote a series of edgy westerns and crime novels during the 1950s and 60s.

Genres: Westerns

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 10, 2018

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the forgotten classic I was hoping for, but an engaging western noir nonetheless. The story is more psychological thriller than action, with some unexpected themes related to racial equality brought to the fore through the protagonist's struggles surrounding his own identity, trying to come to terms with his mixed race background and where he fits in with the world. Redemption is a major theme as well, with the story taking issue with the superficiality of granting amnesty for wrongdoings that one may not even regret.

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

The page count as listed is incorrect. Counting the introduction by David Laurence Wilson (which I have repeatedly urged all potential readers to read AFTER they have finished the novel), the page count of my Black Gat Books edition is 230 pages.

No spoilers here.
It's important that you don't know of the force behind Ben "Lone Wolf" Slattery's actions and his character until Arnold Hano reveals that info midway through the novel.

This book will forever rank among the greatest Western-Noir novels I've ever read.

Slattery is a hired-gun/assassin. He's admired by his contemporaries and feared by most civilized men on both sides of the law.
His only adversary is a crazed killer known only as "The Kid", a psychopath who repeatedly goads Slattery into a gunfight. A duel.
Slattery knows he can take him but refuses to engage in a duel. There's no upside to it. A waste of time with no money in it for him. Slattery only uses his gun for money.

One night a man representing the big ranchers in the territory approaches Slattery and offers him five thousand dollars to kill the governor - Fallon.
The territorial governor is offering any of the gunslingers who fought in the Jackson County wars amnesty if they'll only come to the territorial capitol and turn in their guns. They'll get their guns back but first they must agree to work for the governor as deputies.

Pueblo Indians and the original Spanish settlers still harbor resentment for the Americanos who drove them from their grasslands, killed their sheep, poisoned their wells, and raped their women. The threat of a revolution hangs heavy on the governor's head. And still the big shot cattle ranchers are pushing Governor Fallon to sign into law an accounting of every cattle rancher's stock. How they came by their stock. Were they stolen during the Jackson County Wars?

Lots of action. Some reviewers say that there isn't enough action for a Western but they're looking for a whole other kind of novel.

If David Goodis had written Westerns, this would have been the kind of Western he'd have written.
Brilliant writing. Poetic, fast-moving, and brilliant.
Hard to do better than this if you're looking for Western-Noir.

[Alex C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. I felt it was well written and had an interesting protagonist. One thing I liked about the book was that it was a bit hard to pigeonhole as a style. Although it’s obviously a western it could’ve been set as a modern detective novel or “a coming home” novel.
There are wrongs to be righted and also interesting commentary on the changing of America and the vanishing west.

[Eugene Cundiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Lost Classic

It is hard to believe this was written in 1958. The Last Notch reads like the revisionist classics of the 1980s-2000s,and genre fans should not miss this forgotten gem.