Lassiter

Lassiter #1

by Jack Slade, Giorgio Luxoro (Translator)

Desiderosi di commettere suicidio?... basta fare un torto a Lassiter. Lassiter è brutale e astuto come un apache e possiede una pistola infallibile. Ha ucciso molti uomini. È tutto, meno quello che di solito ci si aspetta da un eroe secondo la tradizione dei western. Nella sua prima avventura, tradito da un fuorilegge, viene imprigionato; evade e compie quello che nessun altro era mai stato capace di fare, cioè attraversare a piedi un deserto. Guidato dal suo istinto ne trova le tracce e le segue finché riuscirà a soddisfare la sua implacabile sete di vendetta e di giustizia.

Genres: Westerns

155 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Pseudonym of Alexander Leslie Scott, 1893-1974, American writer.
Other pseudonyms are Bradford Scott, Jack Bertin, and Jackson Cole.

Reviews

[B.G. Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to a particular blog site that lists the specific authors for each book in the lassiter series, this first book was written by W.T. Ballard. I think I prefer the ones written by Peter Mccurtin. They just seem to flow better. I couldn't give a decent synopsis for this one based on memory, and I'm not about to skim the pages for the sake of a serviceable review like I normally would.

Whoever did write this at least managed to characterize Lassiter as a solid outlaw anti-hero, which he remained throughout the series. There's no mistaking him for a man of virtue. This is definitely a revenge western, and Lassiter is the one seeking the revenge, in this case for being set up as a fall guy in a bank robbery where a banker was shot and killed. Like I said though, the plot just didn't have that streamlined feel that I look for in westerns like this, with just a few too many subordinate characters. But the characters were at least well done, and the action scenes weren't bad either.

I think I'll look to see if Ballard wrote anymore of the Lassiter books, and maybe just read one more by him. If not, there's at least several more in the series that I haven't read that are likely to be better than this one.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid western novel. Lassiter is a thief and will do bout anything for a buck. He is roped in to a robbery where he was setup to take the fall for a murder. He starts looking for the man who set him up after his escape from prison and the noose. It puts him against powerful men on both sides of the border but Lassiter is resourceful and he has no choice iif he wants to keep from having to run for the rest of his life.

Recommended, its a solid story with plenty of action. There are parts that the narrative is not very well written and you have to reread to figure what is going on. However those are few and doesn't hurt the flow that much.