Review: Short but not so sweet
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2013
I like westerns because they are usually short with simple plot and character development.  Although Marshall Sam Callupp is short (only 79 pages in the print edition), the plot and character development were weak.  Most books, especially westerns, begin with an incident or the introduction of the main character and a conflict that is developed and carried through until it is resolved at the end.  A number of conflicts arise throughout this book but each one is quickly resolved by the end of the chapter.  The conflicts themselves, which end up causing the main character to kill somebody, seem to be pretty shallow and hardly seem to justify a gun fight.  It seems that the men killed were just "bad guys" and everyone in the town of Cougar Pass agreed that they needed killing.  The love story which is the only drama carried through from the beginning of the book, seems idyllic and too simplistic.  The main character, Sam Callupp, ends up killing 3 men in separate gun fights but then the young lady he is courting (who is alone and single in this small town) fully accepts his explanation and never questions what kind of man this guy is.The book itself needs a good edit.  I noticed punctuation and word use mistakes every few pages.  This is not a serious problem but does not measure up to the standards I have come to expect from published work.I give the book a two stars and I consider that a little generous.