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Mcmasters
When his beloved wife is slaughtered by a band of ruthless outlaws, ranch owner Boyd McMasters's life is devastated until he finds a second chance as a member of the Cattleman's Protective Association. Original.
- GenresWesterns
313 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1995
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September 7, 2024
2.5 stars. Published in the 90s, McMasters comes off a bit more sensible than the unhinged Westerns of the 70s and 80s, but also dull. At most, it's kinda overwrought, piling on the emotion for the sensitive 90s. The sex seems like an afterthought and there's never really as much gunplay as you'd feel like there should be. It's poised unhappily between John Wayne and Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman.
Boyd McMasters is introduced to us, oddly enough, after his loving wife has been killed ('loving wives' in Westerns always having very short life expectancies) and he's avenged himself on the killers. Now he's a drunk, wandering about until he comes across his brother Warren, who insists on getting him cleaned up.
After that, the story is literally a hurt/comfort fic for a good 150 pages, as Boyd shacks up with a proto-therapist nurse (the 90s, everybody!) who gets him sober. And, of course, falls for him. In about the sleaziest this book gets, the relationship is consummated when he essentially jumps on her. I guess even the most sensitive 90s guy doesn't have it in him to ask "hey, should she be doing that with her recovering alcoholic patient?"
So for 150 pages, our only action is a bit of sex and Boyd remembering how those dastardly outlaws killed his wife and prompted him to go on a killing spree--off-page. But, finally, it's time for Boyd to go into action, so he tells Martha (Martha?) that he's not ready to settle down, after the dead wife and all, so he's going to get a job that'll require him to ride around a lot, shoot people, and sex up any comely widows he comes across.
You know how it is.
Fifty pages follow of Boyd's brother Warren trying to convince Boyd to sign up to work as a sorta bounty hunter for the cattlemen's association. It all feels like the author arguing with himself (or, more likely, his editor) about how and why all this works. Can't Boyd just be a bounty hunter if he wants to ride around shooting bad guys? No, he needs to be a... cattle person. Well, he doesn't want to take orders! Okay, he doesn't have to, unless he does.
It is so much work to justify the premise and we just got over all this stuff set after the roaring rampage of revenge, but finally, Boyd signs on the line that is dotted and we get to him in action as a cattle guy.
And it's okay. He rides into town, interviews some suspects, roots out corruption, stands up for an abused wife and also screws her (in a supportive, male feminist sort of way). But at this point the book is half over, so the 'riding into town' part can't help but feel like it's arriving a bit late on the scene and what did the whole thing with the nurse have to do with anything if he's just going to 'Bond girl' a bunch of chicks?
It doesn't help that the evil plot amounts to low-level cattle rustling. Not even cattle rustling, since the villains are basically just getting their cows bred for free by the nicer ranchers' high-class bulls. Yeah, I'm sure it's Chaotic Evil, it's cheating the rancher out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but this is all pretty esoteric for a bad guy in a Western. The author has to throw in that "and he beats his wife too!" stuff to give this any kick.
And this is the Sunday punch of the whole cattle guy concept? This is looking bad, guys. I'm seeing how the genre sorta died out if this was the best way they could think of to send it into the new millennium.
Boyd McMasters is introduced to us, oddly enough, after his loving wife has been killed ('loving wives' in Westerns always having very short life expectancies) and he's avenged himself on the killers. Now he's a drunk, wandering about until he comes across his brother Warren, who insists on getting him cleaned up.
After that, the story is literally a hurt/comfort fic for a good 150 pages, as Boyd shacks up with a proto-therapist nurse (the 90s, everybody!) who gets him sober. And, of course, falls for him. In about the sleaziest this book gets, the relationship is consummated when he essentially jumps on her. I guess even the most sensitive 90s guy doesn't have it in him to ask "hey, should she be doing that with her recovering alcoholic patient?"
So for 150 pages, our only action is a bit of sex and Boyd remembering how those dastardly outlaws killed his wife and prompted him to go on a killing spree--off-page. But, finally, it's time for Boyd to go into action, so he tells Martha (Martha?) that he's not ready to settle down, after the dead wife and all, so he's going to get a job that'll require him to ride around a lot, shoot people, and sex up any comely widows he comes across.
You know how it is.
Fifty pages follow of Boyd's brother Warren trying to convince Boyd to sign up to work as a sorta bounty hunter for the cattlemen's association. It all feels like the author arguing with himself (or, more likely, his editor) about how and why all this works. Can't Boyd just be a bounty hunter if he wants to ride around shooting bad guys? No, he needs to be a... cattle person. Well, he doesn't want to take orders! Okay, he doesn't have to, unless he does.
It is so much work to justify the premise and we just got over all this stuff set after the roaring rampage of revenge, but finally, Boyd signs on the line that is dotted and we get to him in action as a cattle guy.
And it's okay. He rides into town, interviews some suspects, roots out corruption, stands up for an abused wife and also screws her (in a supportive, male feminist sort of way). But at this point the book is half over, so the 'riding into town' part can't help but feel like it's arriving a bit late on the scene and what did the whole thing with the nurse have to do with anything if he's just going to 'Bond girl' a bunch of chicks?
It doesn't help that the evil plot amounts to low-level cattle rustling. Not even cattle rustling, since the villains are basically just getting their cows bred for free by the nicer ranchers' high-class bulls. Yeah, I'm sure it's Chaotic Evil, it's cheating the rancher out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but this is all pretty esoteric for a bad guy in a Western. The author has to throw in that "and he beats his wife too!" stuff to give this any kick.
And this is the Sunday punch of the whole cattle guy concept? This is looking bad, guys. I'm seeing how the genre sorta died out if this was the best way they could think of to send it into the new millennium.
Displaying 1 of 1 review