The Day of the Gunfighter

Gunsmoke #6

by Joseph A. West

Marshal Matt Dillon is faced with a difficult choice when he comes to the aid of notorious killer Ed Flynn, a man who had once saved his life, when the vicious Feeney gang gives him an ultimatum--turn Flynn over to them or they will burn Dodge to the ground. Original.

Genres: Westerns

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Joe West was born and raised in the seaside town of Saltcoats in Scotland. At 19 he became a police officer, but soon turned his love of writing into a career as a journalist, working for the Daily Mirror in London among others. In 1972 West was recruited as a reporter for the National Enquirer, and began working in the United States. Traveling the world in search of stories, West almost froze to death on an Alaska mountain, and a spider bite nearly killed him in the Amazon rainforest. 'I swelled up like a balloon and turned a real pretty violet color,' he recalls.

Now a full-time novelist, West and his wife Emily reside in sunny Lake Worth, Florida, where he enjoys tamer pursuits like canoeing the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades. His daughter Alexandria attends a local college where she studies forensic technology. She will have absolutely nothing to do with canoes and alligators.

West researches the settings of his novels by exploring the terrain in person, usually with little more than a sleeping bag and a can of coffee.

Recently he and Emily celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a gift from the students at Rio Rancho High School who use West's first novel as a textbook. They then spent a month in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, often pitching their tent where the air is thin at 9,000 feet above the flat.

Reviews

[John Bruni · Rating 5 out of 5]

West is really good at capturing the feeling of Gunsmoke. I'm a huge fan of the show, and I know the characters all very well. A lot of authors who write media tie-ins often don't understand the characters to the point where I wonder if they even watched the show or movie they're writing about. West is not one of those people.

The one thing that feels a little off is, he applies a sense of reality to Gunsmoke, meaning he lets the characters use minor curse words, they talk about the lace-curtain part of town (the real Dodge City was separated by the railroad tracks, one side for the rich, the other for the not-so-rich), things like that that didn't occur on the show. It's good to know that Quint Asper is apparently still in town during the Newly era, which I wouldn't have thought considering how Burt Reynolds left the show long before Newly was introduced. I think the show was still black in white when Reynolds left. Episodes might have still been a half-hour instead of an hour. Like a lot of Dodge City citizens I've had more than my fair share of whiskey, so my memory isn't *too* sharp.

This one is about an outlaw coming to Dodge, except this one saved Matt Dillon's life way back when. Matt doesn't want him in town because he's trouble, but he also owes him a life debt that he decides to pay back against his better judgment. This outlaw is on the run from a band of outlaws including two cold-blooded killers. To confuse matters another gunman comes into town, an Englishman claiming to be a poet who is also a cold-blooded killer, one who thinks he's on a crusade. A crusade for what? That's a spoiler, so I won't talk about it.

Oh yeah, and Doc Holliday is in town again, and Matt doesn't like that, either. Holliday's a troublemaker, and while Matt can't jail him he wants to run Holliday out of town. He doesn't do it because he's an ailing man, being cared for by Big Nose Kate at the Dodge House.

And of course a terrible rainstorm has been pummeling the Kansas plains for days, making travel difficult and violence a "mighty uncertain thing."

Another great Gunsmoke book.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun read in the series, hate that I finished them all, but will definitely look up more from West. He packs these with a ton of action and problems for Marshal Dillon to solve. This time Dillon has an old acquaintance, who once saved his life but is now a killer, come to Dodge to get Dillon's help against 20 plus gun fighters lead by two named killers. Dillon feels obligated and that puts him and the whole town in danger. Plus you have a crazy Englishman, who no one knows, but is a master with a gun. All of this and Doc Holliday too.

Highly recommended, really enjoyed this series.

[Jeanne (love2cook) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the CBS television show "Gunsmoke". The story takes place in Dodge City, Kansas, where Matt Dillion is the sheriff and is faced with three deadly gunmen. I could see James Arness as Matt Dillion and the entire crew of Miss Kitty, Festus and Doc Adams. A good portrayal of the Gunsmoke show.

[J. Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

solid read, another great detailed and sturdy read from West.

4.6/5 🌟

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matt Dillon meets Doc Holliday! If you even slightly like westerns, who could resist that! The resolution of the story was a little quick and a lightning bolt saving Matt's life at just the right time was far-fetched but the journey thru the story was a good one.