Review: Excellent Western
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
The Gundown Trail by Van Holt is a good, old-fashioned western.  Ben Hite, the protagonist of our tale, would have worn a white hat back in the day, if maybe a little dirty.  He is a loner, drifting through the old west with a cynical eye, and a disturbing understanding that although men might need each other, it was almost impossible for them to get along.  And it seems that no matter where he goes, trouble soon follows.Van Holt's prose instantly transports you to another day and time.  His style is evocative of Zane Grey, whose 'character and action are subordinated to setting'.  You can almost taste the dust in the air, and smell the mesquite by the trail as Ben tries to 'avoid trouble' through miles of the desert, to only find him, her, or them at every turn.Mr. Holt has never let me down with his writing.