Tue 18 Jun 2013
A Western Review by Dan Stumpf: JIM O’MARA – Wall of Guns.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western Fiction[5] Comments
JIM O’MARA – Wall of Guns. Dutton, hardcover, 1950. Pocket #816, paperback, June 1951. Signet, paperback, 2002.
I almost started this review by saying that Jim O’Mara’s Wall of Guns is Western writing at its finest. On second think, that honorific is better suited to books like The Big Sky, Saint Johnson and True Grit. Perhaps it’s more apt to say Wall is Western writing at its most enjoyable.
Frank Landry drifts down from Montana to the Rio Grande to find out who killed his brother and stole their ranch, eventually ending up in Broken Wheel, Texas, a town like something from Red Harvest, with sundry factions in a range war at each other’s throats, various hombrae and varmints crossing and double-crossing one another, and a general feel of violent malfeasance roaming the plains.
Landry’s fit for it, though, being one of those Western hero-types who never loses a gun-or-fist fight, thinks faster and smarter than any sidewinder, and draws the women-folk to him like kids to Christmas.
And we’re still in the first chapter when he meets up with Mary Wayne, purty as prairie flower, whose dad is a local rancher being squeezed out by a bunch of cattle thievin’ no-goods over on the next range, and whose weak-willed brother has fallen under the spell of one Carolina Steele, the local cattle queen and de facto head of the rustlers.
From this clichéd start, and with those boiler plate protagonists, Wall of Guns could have been a very ordinary western, no better or worse than most. But O’Mara has a smooth, vivid way of evoking the landscape, a good hand with action, and he peoples his story with a supporting cast far from the usual stock types. A dumb goon-type shows a surprising, gentle loyalty to his spineless boss, one of the good guys goes wrong when Landry’s girl dumps him, people make dumb mistakes now and then, and show surprising insight at other times — it’s as if a spear carrier in Aida suddenly dropped his lance and burst into an aria.
There’s a remarkable moment late in the book where one of the bad guys starts thinking about how he took the wrong road, and wonders if it’s too late to retrace his steps. At which point the good guys catch up with him and
“You can’t talk your way out of this,” Ardoin said, low and thick, “It’s too late.â€
“Precisely,†said Kirby Steele. And then he went for his gun. It was a gesture and nothing more.
Characters like that, propelling a violent, fast-moving story, lift Wall of Guns well out of the usual rut and make it one to look for. And remember.
June 18th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Jim O’Mara does not seem to have been a prolific western writer. Besides the Pocket edition of this book, I have the following:
Guns of Vengeance (Pop. Library 465; c.1951; orig pub as Free Grass; PL edn, Nov 1952)
Quick Trigger Law (Pop. Library 487; c.1952; orig pub as Death at War Dance; PL edn, Mar 1953)
Rustler of the Owlhorns (Pop. Library 518; c.1952; PL edn, Aug 1953)
And from abebooks.com, I have spotted the following:
Trial by Gunsmoke (Popular Library #420)
June 18th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
From the WesternPulps archives, written by Mark Anderson:
Bibliography
Vernon Lee Fluharty
A
August 1, 1907-Jan 7, 1957
Vernon Lee Fluharty wrote western fiction as by Jim O’Mara and as by Michael Carder. At the time of his death at age 49 he was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He wrote only academic literature under his own name, most prominent of which was a book version of his PhD thesis: Dance of the Millions: Military Rule and the Social Revolution in Colombia 1930-1956, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in February 1957.
Vern Fluharty was born in the West Virginia panhandle and worked as a newspaperman in Wheeling,West Virginia, before and in between terms at Ohio State University. He received his B.A. in Political Science in 1935 and a B.S in Education a year later. While at Ohio State he was elected to the Phi Beta academic honorary and the Phi Sigma Alpha political science honorary.
Vern applied for, and was accepted into the U.S. Foreign Service in 1937, and received extensive language training in Spanish. He did diplomatic tours in North Africa and in Latin America, with the longest tour at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, where he rose to the rank of Counsel of Embassy. After World War II broke out Vern transferred to the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. Some of his cables from Bogota have been published, indicating his concern during the war was a Nazi sympathizer tilt in Colombian politics and possible inroads Nazi Germany could make into Latin America.
After the war Vern left the diplomatic service and returned to academic life, accepting an appointment at College of Steubenville, Ohio in its second year, 1947, as Instructor of Political Science. He later pursued his PhD in Political Science (Latin American Studies) at the University of Pittsburgh and taught there from 1954 on. He received his M.A. in 1954 and PhD in 1956.
During much of this time Vernon Fluharty wrote western fiction in his spare time under two pseudonyms. As Jim O’Mara he published five novels: Trial By Gunsmoke (Dutton, 1949, Popular paperback #420, 1952); Wall of Guns (Dutton, 1950, Popular paperbacks 816 and G-212, 1951), Free Grass (Dutton 1950, Popular paperback 465 as Guns of Vengeance, 1952); Death at War Dance (Dutton, 1952, Popular paperback #487 as Quick Trigger Law, 1953), and Rustler of the Owlhorns (Dutton 1952, Popular paperback #518, 1953). One novel, original title unknown, was published in the U.K. under the title Range Crooks (Frederick Muller, 1952). “Ambush at Ghost Creek†was serialized in Saturday Evening Post June 13, July 18, and August 1, 1953. Fluharty published several short stories as by Jim O’Mara: “When the Sun Goes Downâ€, Texas Rangers, May, 1952, “Inside Straightâ€, Texas Rangers, June 1952; and “Fast Bullet Manâ€, Fifteen Western Tales, November, 1953.
Under the pseudonym Michael Carder Fluharty published four novels: Cimarron Crossing (Macrae Smith, 1951, Bantam paperback #1057, 1952); Range Wars (Macrae Smith, 1952, Pennant paperback #P-14 as Action at War Bow Valley, 1953); Return of the Outlaw (Macrae Smith 1954, Bantam paperback 1957); Decision at Sundown (Macrae Smith 1955, Ace Double paperback #D-160, 1956). Michael Carder also serialized “Decision at Sundown†in Ranch Romances, Jan #1, Jan #2, Feb #1 and Feb #2, 1955.
One novel, Decision at Sundown, was filmed in 1957 at Columbia. It was directed by Budd Boetticher, starred Randolph Scott, and was one of the six “Renown†westerns later critically acclaimed. Michael Carder did not receive credit on the screenplay.
Vern Fluharty was under treatment for heart trouble and died unexpectantly in Pittsburgh January 7, 1957 at age 49. He was survived only by his wife, Marcia Dolores Fluharty, who later returned to her native Colombia. His two obituaries: in the Pittsburgh Press January 7, 1957, and the American Political Science Review, August 1957, mentioned only his diplomatic and academic careers, not his other life as a Western author. In 2002 Signet N.A.L. paperbacks reprinted Wall of Guns, as by Jim O’Mara, under its “Western Classic Novels†line.
June 18th, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Here’s my review of the author’s novel RUSTLERS OF THE OWLHORNS, also from the WesternPulps archives. (The last line refers to the fact that “O’Mara”/Fluharty was the “Author of the Month” or whatever we called it back then.
RUSTLER OF THE OWLHORNS, Jim O’Mara (Vernon L. Fluharty)
Dutton, 1952; Popular Library, 1953
This book begins by dropping us right in the middle of the problems faced by
rancher Clay Tennant. Clay’s brother Frank has inherited the family ranch
following their father’s death, leaving Clay with only a single section of
land where he’s trying to build up a herd. Naturally, this results in a lot
of friction between the brothers. On the side, Clay works for Parr Battles
and Ed Blount, owners of the Trans-Mountain Cattle and Land Company, which
provides beef for the Indian reservations in the area. But Battles and
Blount are involved in a crooked deal with the Indian agent, and Clay’s
brother Frank is part of it. When Clay finds out about it, the conspirators
take action to see that he can’t ruin their scheme. Almost before Clay
knows what’s going on, he finds himself framed for rustling and then murder.
The rest of this book concerns his efforts to extricate himself from this
deadly situation, while also being torn between his beautiful but selfish
fiancee and the neighboring rancher’s daughter (also beautiful, but
tomboyish) who has always secretly loved him.
I really went back and forth in my reactions to this book. After getting
off to a nice running start, the plot then takes forever to develop, and
many of the elements, such as the romantic triangle, are stereotypical and
predictable, even allowing for the time period. A couple of other minor
annoyances, both relating to the women, are that except for a slight
variation in hair color, they’re described in almost the same words, and
Fluharty has a habit of referring to their “small faces”, which bothered me
for some reason.
However, the action scenes are well-handled, and during the second half of
the book, Fluharty succeeds in creating some genuine suspense regarding the
outcome. He tightens the screws so much on his hero that I really had to
wonder how Clay was going to get out of his troubles. The resolution is
maybe a little far-fetched, but believable enough that I bought it. I wound
up enjoying the second half of the book enough to more than balance out its
predictability and lapses in style.
Here are some review quotes from the paperback edition:
“There is no relaxation of tension in the writing of this Western. The
author pictures his characters strong and real, the action fast and rough.
The book will please Western fans.” — Wichita Eagle
“The reader of Westerns is, or should be by now, quite well adjusted to
villains of assorted degrees of perfidy, but Jim O’Mara’s RUSTLER OF THE
OWLHORNS introduces a skunk who takes all medals and silver casters for
slick-as-grease skunkiness. A cracking good plot. Grade A from soda to
hock.” — NY Times
“Two feuding brothers, a disputed will, a mercurial lass, and a murder bring
plenty of excitement to the U Bar Ranch.” — Oakland Tribune
“There is action aplenty in this one, a good twisty plot, and a minimum of
gunplay. One thing you can certainly say for this writer–each of his yarns
shows a steady improvement.” — Hoofs and Horns
Somehow, I don’t think many of the current reviewers for the New York Times
use expressions like “from soda to hock”. I also wonder what Hoofs and
Horns was. Anybody know?
This is the only Fluharty book I have and there aren’t any in the local
libraries under either of his pseudonyms, so this may be the only one I read
this month.
June 18th, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Thanks for the wealth of information, James, along with the bonus of a review of another of O’Mara’s books. I’m not too surprised to learn that O’Mara was a pen name, but I didn’t suspect that Michael Carder was the same fellow.
To tell you the truth, at one time I thought that O’Mara was one of Louis L’Amour’s aliases, but that was sheer confusion on my part, since it was Jim Mayo who was one of the latter’s alter egos.
I seem to have only one of the Michael Carder novels, but the others ought not to be hard to find.
June 18th, 2013 at 7:08 pm
HOOFS AND HORNS Magazine seems to have been an Australian magazine, covering horses, rodeos, dressage and the like. I don’t know how long this eBay link will work, but there are several issues up for bids and illustrated here:
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/sis.html?_kw=R+M+Williams+Hoofs+and+Horns+Magazine+December+1976
Even more, it’s still around today:
http://www.hoofsandhorns.com.au/hoofs_horns.asp