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The Floating Outfit #45
Gun Wizard
They were all at Tombstone to try and win the matched pair of gold-inlaid Colt Cavalry Peacemakers.
Bat Masterson was there, in dude dress and with a fancy hat.
Tom Horn was there, looking like a bold Apache war chief.
Burt Alvord was there, the ex-deputy who never brought in a living prisoner.
Wyatt Earp was there, looking like a prosperous trail-end town undertaker.
On the contest day nine men stood on the line, eight of them tall, and who could draw and shoot in half a second.
The ninth man was small, an insignificant Texan against whom the bartender of the Bucket of Blood Saloon gave odds of ten to one.
His name was Dusty Fog.
J. T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
Bat Masterson was there, in dude dress and with a fancy hat.
Tom Horn was there, looking like a bold Apache war chief.
Burt Alvord was there, the ex-deputy who never brought in a living prisoner.
Wyatt Earp was there, looking like a prosperous trail-end town undertaker.
On the contest day nine men stood on the line, eight of them tall, and who could draw and shoot in half a second.
The ninth man was small, an insignificant Texan against whom the bartender of the Bucket of Blood Saloon gave odds of ten to one.
His name was Dusty Fog.
J. T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
- GenresWesterns
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1969
42 people are currently reading
217 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 26, 2025
The saloon owners of Tombstone, AZ decide to host the most magnificent county fair ever with a number of skills competitions in order to bring in tourists and publicity. Cooking, boxing, sewing, log-splitting, horse-wrangling, and the like, and then of course they also will be holding rifle and handgun contests. Bat Masterson, the Earp brothers, and our protagonist Dusty Fog are among those who register to display their gun skills.
J.T. Edson is an English writer who put together a long series called "The Floating Outfit," with 66 entries dating from 1963-1985 but they aren't all sequentially sequenced, and this "Gun Wizard" (1969) is my first attempt at one. I didn't like it.
Some western authors are really good at writing a tense, fun, and/or immersive adventure, even if it has some eye-rolly superhero protagonists or silly situations. They can be enjoyable reads. By comparison, in "Gun Wizard" the prose Edson employs, I'm not sure how to describe here, is just kind of twitchy and blocky. It doesn't roll well from one situation to the next, the dialogue isn't interesting, and I couldn't keep my focus on it. The pacing is just boring and I couldn't stay interested, and the characters are also boring as can be. We have no background for this Dusty Fog character except that he's supposedly really awesome, a lot of folks know it because they've crossed paths with him in the past but of this fact the general population is unaware, and Fog likes to stand up to bullies on behalf of people being bullied.
It isn't a first-person narrative, though, so we don't know what Fog is thinking or seeing. The "action" hops around Tombstone and its surrounding rangeland as a large mix of characters with varying allegiances engage in rustling or cattle sales, theater operations, and defending against Apache raids.
Verdict: DNF for reasons above; I just couldn't pay attention to what I was reading. Quit on page 100 (of 186).
Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
J.T. Edson is an English writer who put together a long series called "The Floating Outfit," with 66 entries dating from 1963-1985 but they aren't all sequentially sequenced, and this "Gun Wizard" (1969) is my first attempt at one. I didn't like it.
Some western authors are really good at writing a tense, fun, and/or immersive adventure, even if it has some eye-rolly superhero protagonists or silly situations. They can be enjoyable reads. By comparison, in "Gun Wizard" the prose Edson employs, I'm not sure how to describe here, is just kind of twitchy and blocky. It doesn't roll well from one situation to the next, the dialogue isn't interesting, and I couldn't keep my focus on it. The pacing is just boring and I couldn't stay interested, and the characters are also boring as can be. We have no background for this Dusty Fog character except that he's supposedly really awesome, a lot of folks know it because they've crossed paths with him in the past but of this fact the general population is unaware, and Fog likes to stand up to bullies on behalf of people being bullied.
It isn't a first-person narrative, though, so we don't know what Fog is thinking or seeing. The "action" hops around Tombstone and its surrounding rangeland as a large mix of characters with varying allegiances engage in rustling or cattle sales, theater operations, and defending against Apache raids.
Verdict: DNF for reasons above; I just couldn't pay attention to what I was reading. Quit on page 100 (of 186).
Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
March 12, 2014
JT really packs a lot of action into this one! The floating outfit comes to Tombstone to compete in the County Fair at the request of Texas John Slaughter, who has his own book Slaughter's Way. They quickly get caught up in the affairs of a British rancher being pressured by a corrupt saloon owner. Along with the Wedge, who have also come for the festivities, they contract to drive the rancher's cattle to market through several bands of Apaches as well as renegades hired by the saloon owner. Just as The Peacemakers changed the armament carried by Dusty and Mark, Gun Wizard sees the Kid win his 'one of a thousand' rifle which replaces his 'yellow-boy'. The Earp family and their allies make cameo appearances in this story and for the most part, aside from Wyatt, come off fairly well considering.
January 24, 2021
The floating outfit series is your typical 1940s b western.
You've seen the westerns, The three sidekicks coming to town, saving the day, rescue in the pretty lady, beating up the bad guys with plenty of shootouts.
These westerns were essentially the old three musketeers done western style.
not much is different in the JT edson floating outfit novels.
I'm rereading one that I read 30 plus years ago.
Of course you have Dusty the short innocuous looking cowboy, Who is also the fastest gun in the west, The toughest fighter because he knows karate, and a certified civil war hero.
You have Mark counter, The range Hercules he's tall strong and just as fast as Dusty.
You have the Ysabel kid, He's not the fastest gun, but he's part Comanche, excellent knife fighter, and perhaps the world's greatest Rifleman.
They come to tombstone to win the contests to keep Wyatt Earp from winning anything.
Don't fret about historical accuracies... Just enjoy the shootouts and b western silliness.
You've seen the westerns, The three sidekicks coming to town, saving the day, rescue in the pretty lady, beating up the bad guys with plenty of shootouts.
These westerns were essentially the old three musketeers done western style.
not much is different in the JT edson floating outfit novels.
I'm rereading one that I read 30 plus years ago.
Of course you have Dusty the short innocuous looking cowboy, Who is also the fastest gun in the west, The toughest fighter because he knows karate, and a certified civil war hero.
You have Mark counter, The range Hercules he's tall strong and just as fast as Dusty.
You have the Ysabel kid, He's not the fastest gun, but he's part Comanche, excellent knife fighter, and perhaps the world's greatest Rifleman.
They come to tombstone to win the contests to keep Wyatt Earp from winning anything.
Don't fret about historical accuracies... Just enjoy the shootouts and b western silliness.
May 5, 2021
Well told story
J T Edson's dislike for Wyatt Earp comes through but he gives credit to the other Earp brothers. The story flows well and is one cohesive story.
J T Edson's dislike for Wyatt Earp comes through but he gives credit to the other Earp brothers. The story flows well and is one cohesive story.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews