Thursday, April 1, 2021

Fargo by John Benteen

 Fargo 
by John Benteen (Ben Haas)
1969 Belmont


Set in the first decades of the twentieth century, Fargo is sometime marketed as an adventure series, sometimes as a late period western. This first installment is pure western, though more Sergio Leone than John Ford.

Fargo is hired to help transport silver from a mine in Mexico. The short volume was filled primarily with double-crosses and changing loyalties. One of Fargo's appeals is his code of honor tempered by harsh pragmatism. The kind that sets up a teen to be raped a little bit in order to keep her from being raped a lot.

Fargo is also known for his personalized weapons - the Batangas knife he got from the Phillipines and a sawed-off shotgun given to him by Teddy Roosevelt. The shotgun is basically an artillery piece, with a spread of several yards and capable of downing dozens at a time, which is not how sawed-off shotguns work.

Future installments may have more novel settings, but this was a pretty standard western, a bit darker, certainly tamer than the Piccadilly Cowboys.

Available in Kindle ebook from Amazon

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