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Leo Guild #1
Guild
When bounty hunter Leo Guild agrees to help the sheriff of Danton, persuaded, in part, by the appeal of the lovely, blue-eyed Annie, he discovers that the powerful Cord family controls the town down to the last nail.
- GenresWesterns
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1987
4 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Ed Gorman
468 books121 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 9, 2013
”I saw her face. She came out through the door, and she dropped the shotgun and just stood there, and i could see where I shot her in the chest. She just stood there staring at me, just staring at me, as if she didn’t know what to do, whether to scream or fall down or cry. She just stood there, this little six-year-old girl in a gingham dress and brown hair and a pretty little face, and then she just fell down, and I couldn’t even go near her for a while. I should have, should have run over to see if she was really dead, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t move.”
Leo Guild, bounty hunter, has a ghost that will never leave him alone. He reacted and a little girl died. Her parents had left her at home with a shotgun because they had been having trouble with a sneak thief. Nobody could anticipate this turn of events, but I will say I grew up with shotguns and I’ve never met a six-year-old girl that could handle a shotgun. It baffles the mind what they thought that little girl could do to scare off a grown man even with a shotgun.
Leo Guild was cleared of all charges, but as we know even when you do the “right thing” guilt is still a many splendored thing. It colors everything you do and you’re amazed when you realize you just went several minutes without thinking about it.
Guild lands in Danton, South Dakota with a low level criminal he releases to the local sheriff who turns out to be an old buddy of his Cornell Baines. Now Baines isn’t the same man he remembers. He is under the thumb of the local big shot banker Frank Cord and back in the day Baines was always his own man. He is older now and frightened about losing his job. It happens to all of us. Even the prospect of FINDING a new job is daunting once you reach a certain age. It is easy to justify to yourself a little dodgy business if it means keeping a good job.
Now Frank Cord is living the high life. He likes gambling, but unfortunately he isn’t very good at it, He likes hookers, but unfortunately he isn’t very good at hiding that fact After all this is a small town and he has a wife, a good wife, who would rather he came home. His father is a legend in that town who spent his whole life building up a financial empire. Frank isn’t exactly a chip off the old block. He is on course to destroy everything that his father built, but also what everyone else built as well.
I should cut the bastard some slack because he read Robert Louis Stevenson, but I just can’t.
”Cord sat there, and now an image of a magazine cover painting came to him. There was a palm tree and an ocean and a sailboat bending in the wind. The painting was an illustration for a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Cord had read it when he was ten.He had never forgotten it, never given up the dream of that palm tree and that ocean and that sailboat.”
A gambler dies in jail under suspicious circumstances and Guild finds himself drawn into an investigation he has no stake in. Well except for Annie.
”Guild pulled her so close their faces were almost touching. He tried to deny what he felt in that instant but he couldn’t Unable to stop himself he put his lips to hers very gently. She still tasted of the blueberry wine. He touched her golden hair and it was if his fingers ignited. He had been so lonely so long and now she was here, and it was both the most wonderful and the most terrible thing that had ever happened to him.”
Well maybe it is the blueberry wine talking, but just the day before she was with Earle the gambler that was murdered in his cell and now she is knocking boots with Guild. Things move fast in the west.
Bodies pile up like cord wood and more than one person wants to add Frank to the pile. I think Edward Gorman was making a conscious effort to try and beat the corpse total in Red Harvest. Even the sassy editor of the local newspaper Ruby Gillespie gets in on the action.
”When they reached the deputy, Annie looked down at the thick red blood pulsing from the man’s chest and said, ‘Boy Ruby, you sure got him.’
Ruby said, ‘I don’t think I want to look at him. He might have kind eyes or something, and then I’d feel like hell.’”
Edward “Body Count” Gorman
The writing is sparse and definitely reminded me more of a hardboiled mystery novel than it did of Westerns I’ve read in the past. Most of the talking is done with flying bullets. Bad people are really bad and good people are more gray than white. Gorman has a shattered, flawed hero in Leo Guild that could use some fleshing out. Overall I kind of enjoyed it. Publisher’s like short westerns and certainly things felt a little rushed for Gorman to tie everything up in just 174 pages.
Leo Guild, bounty hunter, has a ghost that will never leave him alone. He reacted and a little girl died. Her parents had left her at home with a shotgun because they had been having trouble with a sneak thief. Nobody could anticipate this turn of events, but I will say I grew up with shotguns and I’ve never met a six-year-old girl that could handle a shotgun. It baffles the mind what they thought that little girl could do to scare off a grown man even with a shotgun.
Leo Guild was cleared of all charges, but as we know even when you do the “right thing” guilt is still a many splendored thing. It colors everything you do and you’re amazed when you realize you just went several minutes without thinking about it.
Guild lands in Danton, South Dakota with a low level criminal he releases to the local sheriff who turns out to be an old buddy of his Cornell Baines. Now Baines isn’t the same man he remembers. He is under the thumb of the local big shot banker Frank Cord and back in the day Baines was always his own man. He is older now and frightened about losing his job. It happens to all of us. Even the prospect of FINDING a new job is daunting once you reach a certain age. It is easy to justify to yourself a little dodgy business if it means keeping a good job.
Now Frank Cord is living the high life. He likes gambling, but unfortunately he isn’t very good at it, He likes hookers, but unfortunately he isn’t very good at hiding that fact After all this is a small town and he has a wife, a good wife, who would rather he came home. His father is a legend in that town who spent his whole life building up a financial empire. Frank isn’t exactly a chip off the old block. He is on course to destroy everything that his father built, but also what everyone else built as well.
I should cut the bastard some slack because he read Robert Louis Stevenson, but I just can’t.
”Cord sat there, and now an image of a magazine cover painting came to him. There was a palm tree and an ocean and a sailboat bending in the wind. The painting was an illustration for a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Cord had read it when he was ten.He had never forgotten it, never given up the dream of that palm tree and that ocean and that sailboat.”
A gambler dies in jail under suspicious circumstances and Guild finds himself drawn into an investigation he has no stake in. Well except for Annie.
”Guild pulled her so close their faces were almost touching. He tried to deny what he felt in that instant but he couldn’t Unable to stop himself he put his lips to hers very gently. She still tasted of the blueberry wine. He touched her golden hair and it was if his fingers ignited. He had been so lonely so long and now she was here, and it was both the most wonderful and the most terrible thing that had ever happened to him.”
Well maybe it is the blueberry wine talking, but just the day before she was with Earle the gambler that was murdered in his cell and now she is knocking boots with Guild. Things move fast in the west.
Bodies pile up like cord wood and more than one person wants to add Frank to the pile. I think Edward Gorman was making a conscious effort to try and beat the corpse total in Red Harvest. Even the sassy editor of the local newspaper Ruby Gillespie gets in on the action.
”When they reached the deputy, Annie looked down at the thick red blood pulsing from the man’s chest and said, ‘Boy Ruby, you sure got him.’
Ruby said, ‘I don’t think I want to look at him. He might have kind eyes or something, and then I’d feel like hell.’”
Edward “Body Count” Gorman
The writing is sparse and definitely reminded me more of a hardboiled mystery novel than it did of Westerns I’ve read in the past. Most of the talking is done with flying bullets. Bad people are really bad and good people are more gray than white. Gorman has a shattered, flawed hero in Leo Guild that could use some fleshing out. Overall I kind of enjoyed it. Publisher’s like short westerns and certainly things felt a little rushed for Gorman to tie everything up in just 174 pages.
February 5, 2017
The late Ed Gorman wrote in many different genres, he was quite the wordsmith, if you read any of his books, you were hooked and you would read anything published.
'Guild' was his first Western. I've read many of Gorman's other westerns, but man it's been a while, since I've been sucked into a book, that's so effortless to read and one that is basically a Western mystery.
My all-time favorite theme in the Western genres are the Ranger/U.S. Deputy Marshal/Sheriff books. With 'Guild' it's about a bounty hunter named Leo Guild, a former Sheriff, whose scarred from a traumatic accident while wearing a badge and now supports himself running down wanted Outlaws.
Which was what brought him to the town Danton, a town in trouble embattled two rivals that own it and one's failure of a son.
I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the reader will end up being put into the pages by Ed Gorman, you'll meet many unique characters, has the typical good verse evil and just wish he'd have let Annie live.
Totally enjoying Guild, definitely will be reading the three other books in this series. Ed Gorman is one of those authors everyone needs to read, once you do, you'll realize why he was much beloved by his fans and this one would make a great introduction to his writing.
He's one of a few authors, that he'll have you reading genres that you never tried, just because you love his writing and I highly recommend that you do.
'Guild' was his first Western. I've read many of Gorman's other westerns, but man it's been a while, since I've been sucked into a book, that's so effortless to read and one that is basically a Western mystery.
My all-time favorite theme in the Western genres are the Ranger/U.S. Deputy Marshal/Sheriff books. With 'Guild' it's about a bounty hunter named Leo Guild, a former Sheriff, whose scarred from a traumatic accident while wearing a badge and now supports himself running down wanted Outlaws.
Which was what brought him to the town Danton, a town in trouble embattled two rivals that own it and one's failure of a son.
I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the reader will end up being put into the pages by Ed Gorman, you'll meet many unique characters, has the typical good verse evil and just wish he'd have let Annie live.
Totally enjoying Guild, definitely will be reading the three other books in this series. Ed Gorman is one of those authors everyone needs to read, once you do, you'll realize why he was much beloved by his fans and this one would make a great introduction to his writing.
He's one of a few authors, that he'll have you reading genres that you never tried, just because you love his writing and I highly recommend that you do.
December 30, 2016
GUILD opens with a superb prologue involving a court trial where Leo Guild is the defendant, and sets the stage for the story to follow.
Leo Guild is a bounty hunter with a past relating to the incident that caused the trial that neither he or any of the others he comes in contact with can seem to forget. Solid writing makes this story very believable and pulled me in and kept me there until the conclusion. GUILD is the first book I've read by Ed Gorman, and was the poll winner from the Goodreads "American Westerns" group. Recommended for those who are attracted to stories of the old west that are based on someone haunted by a troubled past and seeking redemption, Guild fits the bill as he relentlessly (and without regard for his own safety) pursues a killer and criminal who is protected as a result of corruption involving a lawman who is a friend from the past and a local powerful businessman.
Death Ground is the next book in the series that I'll read and review in the near future.
Leo Guild is a bounty hunter with a past relating to the incident that caused the trial that neither he or any of the others he comes in contact with can seem to forget. Solid writing makes this story very believable and pulled me in and kept me there until the conclusion. GUILD is the first book I've read by Ed Gorman, and was the poll winner from the Goodreads "American Westerns" group. Recommended for those who are attracted to stories of the old west that are based on someone haunted by a troubled past and seeking redemption, Guild fits the bill as he relentlessly (and without regard for his own safety) pursues a killer and criminal who is protected as a result of corruption involving a lawman who is a friend from the past and a local powerful businessman.
Death Ground is the next book in the series that I'll read and review in the near future.
January 15, 2017
Gorman is a terrific writer and Guild does not disappoint. This short novel, the first in a four book series telling the tales of hard-boiled bounty hunter Leo Guild, is fast paced and brimming with memorable characters and dialogue. Gorman's descriptive prose resides in that sweet spot between terse and tedious, telling the reader just what you need to know without dragging down the snappy pacing. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
July 22, 2015
Another great one from Gorman.
November 17, 2023
Leo Guild is an ex-lawman that is now a bounty hunter. He is in the process of bringing Maloney into a town called Danton and he is hot, dusty, tired and ready to rest after he makes his delivery. When they arrive, Maloney asks if he can have one last beer and Guild, thirsty himself, buys a bucket and they share it before Maloney is taken to jail.
The town has been run by Mason Cord, but his son Frank has generally run his businesses into bankruptcy. Frank has a wife and children, but he is really married to gambling and other vices. Therefore, there is a desperation in Frank as he tries to cover himself any way he can. Unwilling to pay any debt that he can avoid, there is a confrontation with a stage magician and gambler named Earle and Earle ends up dead by unknown hands.
What makes this story go is the many supporting characters that are all unique. There is the fallen angel Annie, newspaper publisher Ruby, Sheriff Cornell Baines who is a bit of a fallen hero, the criminal Maloney and a gang of Frank Cord’s henchmen. Like most of the western novels by Gorman, Guild emerges at the end but somewhat more damaged than when the story began. Some of the characters you like the most do not survive the gunplay. It is storyteller Ed Gorman at his best.
The town has been run by Mason Cord, but his son Frank has generally run his businesses into bankruptcy. Frank has a wife and children, but he is really married to gambling and other vices. Therefore, there is a desperation in Frank as he tries to cover himself any way he can. Unwilling to pay any debt that he can avoid, there is a confrontation with a stage magician and gambler named Earle and Earle ends up dead by unknown hands.
What makes this story go is the many supporting characters that are all unique. There is the fallen angel Annie, newspaper publisher Ruby, Sheriff Cornell Baines who is a bit of a fallen hero, the criminal Maloney and a gang of Frank Cord’s henchmen. Like most of the western novels by Gorman, Guild emerges at the end but somewhat more damaged than when the story began. Some of the characters you like the most do not survive the gunplay. It is storyteller Ed Gorman at his best.
August 25, 2023
This is a fast pace, suspend some belief, shoot-em-up western. Don't expect a good side to the bad fellow or any character development. The characters are who they are from start to finish. Some of the banter between characters is amusing.
The most interesting character to this reader was not Leo Guild, the main character, but one the supporting characters, Sheriff Baines. Baines walks the line between being honorable and not. His ruminations on his position added more emotional depth to the story.
There is a conversation that takes place at breakfast between some of the characters. Baines is lamenting the type of day it is when ladies are discussing murder. Tweeking his comment a bit and readers get an idea of the type of story this is: " . . . it's a hell [of a tale] when ladies sit around restaurants drinking bourbon at barely five a.m. discussing coldblooded murder."
The most interesting character to this reader was not Leo Guild, the main character, but one the supporting characters, Sheriff Baines. Baines walks the line between being honorable and not. His ruminations on his position added more emotional depth to the story.
There is a conversation that takes place at breakfast between some of the characters. Baines is lamenting the type of day it is when ladies are discussing murder. Tweeking his comment a bit and readers get an idea of the type of story this is: " . . . it's a hell [of a tale] when ladies sit around restaurants drinking bourbon at barely five a.m. discussing coldblooded murder."
April 18, 2020
An excellent novel by the late, great Ed Gorman. His western novels are different than most westerns as they read more like noir/crime/suspense novels that just happen to be set in the old West, as opposed to a more traditional western genre approach. This book really highlights his strengths as an author. The atmosphere and characterization are fantastic. There is a real sense of melancholy and despair that falls over the novel. The story doesn't overstay its welcome when it is over and leaves you wanting more. A great book by a great writer, highest recommendation.
November 1, 2021
I love Ed Gorman (RIP)
This is a good western, and a quick read.
Guild is a bounty hunter with a past he can't forget.
He rides into Denton on night with his latest capture.
Soon he finds himself involved with the sheriff(who knows him) and some of the townspeople.
Something crooked is going on in Denton.
Guild, not really wanting to, finds himself trying to fix it.
As I said, a good western. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
This is a good western, and a quick read.
Guild is a bounty hunter with a past he can't forget.
He rides into Denton on night with his latest capture.
Soon he finds himself involved with the sheriff(who knows him) and some of the townspeople.
Something crooked is going on in Denton.
Guild, not really wanting to, finds himself trying to fix it.
As I said, a good western. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
November 20, 2022
Sad ending with Annie. ☹ Otherwise, I liked the story. Fast paced easy read.
August 3, 2009
Another terrific hardboiled Western from the master of the form. It is dark, moody, and real. As with all of Gorman's novels it is the little things that makes it shine: every day life in a mid-West town in the 19th century, the fears, anger, the joy and grief. It is a notch above most Westerns, and a superbly entertaining novel.
July 26, 2010
the first in the Guild series. Guild is an older character than most of the heroes of westerns but very realistic. I liked him very much. He's my favorite western character outside of some of L'Amour's.
My copy has a different cover.
My copy has a different cover.
November 26, 2011
The thing I really like about Gorman's prose is it's nice and lean but not spare. Has an almost poetic lilt to it, now and then, but he doesn't waste words. Endings seem a bit abrupt, though...but, probably the way stuff ended out West...
May 5, 2008
i liked this leo guild western.
May 10, 2009
Superior western by one of the best writers working today.
July 23, 2009
Features Leo Guild, a bounty hunter with a troubled past. Tries to rectify small town corruption caused mostly by the Cord family. Relationships are paramount in this story....
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews