BAR-20 DAYS

Ever since I started reading Westerns in my late teens, I’ve been interested in just where it was they came from.  How did they start as a publishing phenomenon and how far were we removed from the time they first appeared?  Well, it didn’t start with fellows like Clarence Mulford, but he was among those who “shepherded” these stories into what would become the litmus test for Westerns of the 1950’s on up. 

Think I’ve only read two of the Hopalong books; one by Mulford, the other by Louis L’Amour.  Here we have one of several that I picked up somewhere along the way.  When I read that Richard Wheeler was a Mulford fan, I knew I should be picking these up when and wherever I found them.  Good thing I did!

SAM HOOK

The only thing more fun than discussing my admiration for Richard Wheeler is to read one of his books.

I read SAM HOOK when it first came out (Richard gave me a hardcover copy!) and by the time the paperback hit stores a year later, I grabbed it as well.  Really love the packaging here. 

As I get older, I find that I can’t quite recall everything I read in this book over 20 years ago.  Therefore I get the treat of reading it again and in many cases it will be as if I’m reading it for the first time.

One of Richard’s strong suits is fleshing out his characters extremely well.  The books become character studies – that just happen to be set in the frame of a Western.  These kinds of books are more fascinating to me than some of the cardboard characters I’ve read about in other Westerns.

Can’t go wrong with Richard Wheeler.  Check him out!