Kit
Prate (a Sundown Press author like me) tells me her favourite of
her westerns is JASON KILKENNY'S GUN,
now available on Sundown Press. Kit describes it as ‘a coming of age story; a young
boy falls under the spell of a notorious bounty hunter without realizing the
consequences for his family.’
In JASON KILKENNY'S GUN the bounty hunter is Rance Savage, still
seeking revenge on the man who partially crippled him 20 years earlier; his
young admirer is 15 year old Josh Kincaid. But then Savage finds the man he’s
been searching for so long…
Historical evidence for Old West bounty hunters is scant, but
they’re certainly popular in western fiction, being portrayed by everyone from Randolph
Scott (‘Ride Lonesome’)
to James Stewart (‘The
Naked Spur’)
to Steve McQueen in the TV series ‘Wanted Dead or Alive.’
The theme of a youngster hero-worshipping a bounty hunter
made me think of Henry Fonda (the bounty hunter) and Anthony Perkins in ‘The Tin Star’ (1957.)
Anthony Perkins & Henry Fonda in 'The Tin Star'
Tom Horn
and Charlie Siringo
are two historical westerners
who could almost be described as bounty hunters.
There were of course scalp-hunters in the Old West, men who
went after bounty offered for Native American hair. Men like John Johnson, who
carried out the infamous 1837 massacre of Apaches at Santa Rita, New Mexico,
and James Kirker, an Irishman who operated in Mexico and went after Apache
scalps c. 1840.
James Kirker
One reviewer on Kit Prate generally:
‘…The best in the business -- best plots, best characters, best action, and the
unexpected details and gestures that vault the prose right off the page.’
Other reviewers on
‘Your jaw will be hanging at the
storytelling ability.’
‘Awesome… very enjoyable read.’
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