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Title: Fatal Encounter
Series: The Adventures of Bass Reeves Deputy US Marshal #1
Authors: Charles Ray
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 119
Words: 41.5K

Synopsis:

Bass Reeves, the first black US Marshal, regularly deals with outlaws in the Indian Territories of the late 1800's. After a Texas Ranger enters the Territories going after a gang and gets killed, it is up to Reeves to track down the desperado and bring him to final justice.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to like this western. However, the writing was mediocre and the story not much more than “and then he tracked the bad guy down and killed him”. Throw in the authors perpetuation of the Noble Savage myth and well, liberal ideology about race plays a big part of the story.

I won't be reading any more though because of just how mediocre and banal this was. It wasn't exciting, it wasn't tense and writing was pedestrian at best. I won't waste more time on an author who can't write better than this. Plus, Bass Reeves was a real man and he deserves something better than this to represent everything he stood for and what he did.

★★✬☆☆ ( )