Elmer Kelton's The Unlikely Lawman: A Hewey Calloway Adventure

Hewey Calloway #4

by Steve Kelton

Elmer Kelton’s Hewey Calloway, one of the best-loved cowboys in all of Western fiction, returns in this novel of his middling years, as he looks for work―but not too much work―in 1904 West Texas.

Hewey Calloway is heading north to Colorado, on a horse drive for an old friend, Alvin Lawdermilk, when he gets word that one of his hired hands is planning to rob him. After the plot is foiled, the fugitive horsehand is on the run and leaving bodies in his wake.

Deputized to help bring the criminal to justice, Hewey is bestowed with a weight of responsibility that he's long avoided. Never known for his skill―or lack thereof―with a pistol, he can only pray that he and retired Texas Ranger Hanley Baker will be enough to put an end to this trail of dastardly deeds.

Steve Kelton's The Unlikely Lawman will transport you to an Old West full of duplicity, gunfights, and the often-unforgiving hardships of frontier life.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 26, 2022

Reviews

[Jim Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elmer Kelton's son, Steve, adds another chapter in the story of Hewey Calloway, the somewhat footloose West Texas cowboy who lives around the turn of the twentieth century. According to the end notes, Elmer had sketched out some of this tale before his passing. This one takes place between Six Bit A Day and The Good Old Boys. Hewey travels to Colorado moving a horse herd and becomes involved in a hunt for a dangerous young outlaw with whom he had had his own bad dealings. Following the leadership of retired Texas Ranger Hanley Baker, the core of the novel centers around the pursuit of the outlaw and his two partners, following their trail of crimes. The title comes from Hewey's known inability to shoot well and usual desire to avoid serious responsibilities when possible. The younger Kelton does a good job of capturing his father's style and the Hewey of this book remains true to the character already developed in the other books. The story does drag a bit toward the end (there is perhaps a bit too much up and down the trail), but otherwise is a good read.

[Barbara Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sure like this series and am glad that Steve Kelton has continued it. Hewey Calloway is still the same character that is funny and he doesn't know it. Westerns that have a sense of humor are very rare. In fact, this is the only series like that,that I can recall.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!!

[Keith B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

[Mike Dietz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better story and better character development than 6 Bits. An enjoyable read

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book by Steve Kelton, continuing his father's style and legacy.