Wind Rider

0/5 ( ratings)

Tom McNulty writes some great westerns. That's all you need to know. Period. They would make excellent films, the kind of films Burt Kennedy would have written and directed, the kind of films Budd Boetticher would have made, starring Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan, Gabby Hayes, Gail Russel. . . . Fast-paced, with plenty of action and colorful descriptions that magically conjure up the Old West without leaving a soft, warm veneer of romanticism to cover up the hardship, tragedy and brutality that were part and parcel of daily life back then. Nor does McNulty ignore the human drama, the relationships, the character-arcs, the humor that is the lifeblood of all fiction, for without those, you really don't have much of a story.

In WIND RIDER, McNulty opens with two simple sentences that sets tone as they introduce the main character, Hank Benteen. "The air was crisp and he smelled smoke when he rode into the valley. His name was Hank Benteen but the Sioux called him Wind Rider." Simple, yet elegant. Hank is a great character, the loner, a man of heart and courage, a true sense of justice . . . a man of compassion and human frailty. Almost from the get-go he becomes embroiled in a war between homesteaders and cattlemen, and saves the lives of a man and his two daughters. By page 7, I had decided to thrown in with Benteen and ride with him. This character really got to me. McNulty doesn't neglect the romance, either, and this time out there are two wonderful women: Gloria Nash and Rebecca Deloney. Which one he hitches up with is something you'll have to find out for yourself. What I liked also was the subtext of the villain, who has some mommy issues. Villains in McNulty's westerns are always interesting, quirky, and more often than not, downright evil. The gunplay, the action, is also fast and brutal, and rings with honesty and realism. And yet, in the middle of a major gunfight, McNulty still has time to drop in a line that rings of pure poetry. Benteen has put a bullet in a man's forehead, and the next line reads: "The man's final thought, desperate thought was splattered across the sage and dry grass." I love that. It's pure Tom McNulty. I guarantee it, you will care about Benteen, Gloria, and Rebecca. You will discover how they characters are flesh and blood, with faults and virtues. They are real. The story will move you along and take your breath away as the plot thickens, the lead begins to fly, and gunsmoke clouds the air.

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