Lucas
Hallam has long been one of my favorite fictional characters. Not only that,
but he ranks as a favorite in TWO separate genres --- PI mysteries and
Westerns. Hallam, you see, is a man of two worlds and two eras: A gunslinger,
Pinkerton agent, and lawman in the closing years of the 1800s who has gone on
to become a licensed PI and part-time stunt man in the silent movies of 1920s
Hollywood.
The
very distinct creation of L.J. Washburn (who most folks know as Livia Reasoner,
the wife of prolific writer James Reasoner), Hallam first appeared in short
stories, starting with an appearance in THE EYES HAVE IT, the first anthology
from the Private Eye Writers of America. He has since appeared in numerous
other short stories and also in three (to date) novels --- WILD NIGHT, DOG
HEAVIES, and DEAD STICK.
WILD
NIGHT won a Shamus Award from PWA and subsequent Hallam works have racked up numerous
other awards and nominations.
Livia
has been writing about Hallam for over thirty years and her latest, PANHANDLE
FREIGHT (recently released as a stand-alone eBook novella but originally
appearing in 2012 as part of an anthology and earning a Western Fictioneers’
Peacemaker nomination in the short fiction category) shows she has lost neither
her love for the character nor her skill at presenting him in another memorable
tale. This yarn fits firmly in the Western mold and takes place in an isolated
train station in the middle of the blizzard. A number of people, including
Hallam, are gathered there to get out of bad weather, waiting in hopes that the
train will make it through. One of them is a notorious killer and it’s up to
Hallam to figure out which one and prevent him or her from striking again.
Told
in clean, tight prose with a good sense of time and setting and an intriguing
blend of characters, this is a little gem you don’t want to miss. And if you’re
not familiar with the Hallam character, then it’s a good place to start
correcting that by using it as a launching pad for seeking out all of the other
titles you can get your hands on. Most of them are available on Kindle and very
reasonably priced.
Strongly
recommended!
