Desert Stake-out

by Hondo Wells

Book by Whittington, Harry

Genres: Westerns

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

A pseudonym used by Harry Whittington.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. An intensely gritty and suspenseful tale of survival, temptation, desperation and vengeance. Blade Merrick, a man with nothing left to live for except to avenge his brother's murder is forced to hole up with some seedy outlaws and a wounded dandy and his beautiful young wife, as they hide out from a band of Apache renegades who are taking their sweet time tightening the noose around their collective necks. There isn't much in the way of action here, but Whittington maintains an exceedingly taut atmosphere from start to finish.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Whittington western that shows a lot of the techniques he'd mastered in crime fiction transferred to this genre. Nearly all of the book takes place at a desert water hole where Blade Merrick plays a cat and mouse game with some bank robbers while waiting for the Apaches to attack. Meanwhile the plot deepens as we learn more about Merrick and the events of his past and the pain he has endured and his vengeance mission. Just a lot of fantastic set pieces in this one. Seems perfect for a movie and even kind of familiar, so that might be worth tracking down.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. A fairly standard plot. A loner who has lost his wife to the Apache and his brother to outlaws ends up at a desert waterhole with the outlaws and with the Apache surrounding them. And of course there is a beautiful woman, with a weak husband. The uniqueness here is in the writing, which was definitely a bit more hard-boiled than your typical western of this era. The ending was a little too easy, I thought, and wasn't set up well enough. But overall I enjoyed it quite a lot.

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blade Merrick, a sometimes scout for the army, is tasked with bringing a wagon-full of medicine to a epidemic-ridden mission. This means a trip across a bleak desert controlled by the Apaches. Merrick has past experience with the Apaches--the exact nature of which isn't revealed to us until later in the novel--that makes sending him alone a worthwhile idea.

He doesn't stay alone, though. Along the way, he picks up a badly-wounded man and his wife, along with three outlaws whom he immediately realizes he can not trust. Soon, the party is at a waterhole, threatened by Apache and unable to trust one another.

It's a great set-up, generating a lot of tension. Whittington's characterizations are strong as well. Each person in the story, even the mostly despicable bad guys, have real dimension to their personalities. Merrick's past, including his history with the Apaches, is effectively foreshadowed so that when that past plays a key role in the novel's resolution, events play out in an unexpected and satisfying manner.

Much of the novel is Merrick and the outlaws playing cat-and-mouse with one another, with the situation eventually exploding into violence. When the Apaches show up, the novel comes to a brutal and tension-filled climax. At least we think its the climax, because when that situation is resolved, events spill into a SECOND brutal and tension-filled climax.

This may be my favorite Whittington Western.

[Regan MacArthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this three-and-a-half stars. The story's very good. The plot and all the male characters are very well done. My one complaint was that the reader wasn't given any sense of the hero and the woman having an emotional connection. Yeah, I know, this is a western so it's about guns and not roses. Also, when the hell would the people have found the time to bond with all that plot going on? Still, I'm sticking with my complaint because that weakness mars an otherwise terrific piece of entertainment. It's no accident that this novel has been reprinted so many times.

[Chris Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a man, bent on revenge, who is thrown into an uneasy alliance with three outlaws, a beautiful woman and her wounded husband as they try to escape a band of Apaches.

This sounds like a typical vintage western story but Whittington's great writing sets the tension to 11 and keeps it there to the very end. The characters are well realized and the story is harsh and claustrophobic. I highly recommend this book!!

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done quickie western. Typical small cast story line where a group is trapped in a place and the relationships between them and oh yea, there are indians trying to kill them too. The main character is engaging and the dynamic between him and the rest is interesting.

Definitely recommend for western fans, just a solid example of the genre. At just 145 pages it's a quick read so won't waste your time.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written, but oddly confining in an open desert setting. Basically the book early stalls at one spot and never moves. The writing supersedes the otherwise mundane plot that goes 'round and 'round and 'round. Late in the book indians arrive and are welcome.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of ten points.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, tense little thriller about a man's quest for revenge.