Mon 18 Aug 2014
Western Review: L. P. HOLMES – Destiny Range.
Posted by Steve under Pulp Fiction , Reviews , Western Fiction[3] Comments
L. P. HOLMES – Destiny Range. Leisure, paperback, March 2009. First book publication: Greenberg, hardcover, 1936. First appeared in Five-Novels Monthly, May 1932; reprinted in Popular Western, October 1951.
Dex Sublette, foreman of the Pinon Ranch, and all of the cowhands working for him are surprised to learn that the retired owner has sold the spread to a woman — and a Russian princess, to boot. They do not take the news with delight:
Shorty couldn’t be more wrong. The young lady is Sonia Stephanovich, or at least it used to be. She now wishes to be called Sonia Stephens. Having fled the Russian Revolution with only a maid and a few belongings, she now hopes to build a new life in this section of the American West she once visited as a child.
As for being a string-necked old battle-axe:
And of course all of the men on the ranch who now call her boss are smitten, but no more than Dex Sublette himself. The story that follows is as much a romance as it is a western novel, with all of the ups and downs and pitfalls that are bound to arise when two human beings of opposite sexes and opposite ways of life meet and are attracted to each other.
Until, that is, page 150 or so, of a 240 page story, when Dex learns that Sonia has been kidnapped and all hell breaks loose. Not everyone survives the battle between good guys and bad, but does true love prevail? I’ll bet you already know the answer to that.
To be honest, though, in spite of all the heroics, flying bullets and tragic deaths that occur in the last third of the book, I enjoyed the on again, off again romance in the first part of the book quite a lot more, as contrived and as (dare I say it?) corny as it reads to a modern reader today.
August 19th, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Everything I’ve read by Holmes has been excellent. I think I have the paperback of this one. If not I need to find a copy.
August 19th, 2014 at 3:57 pm
James,
The paperback would be your best bet in finding a copy. Westerns published by Leisure Books before they went under are relatively common, and don’t go for much on Amazon, say, even in New condition.
Out of curiosity I did find one copy of the hardcover for sale on sale. It wasn’t expensive either, for a hardcover from the 1930s, somewhere in the $20 range with no Dust Jacket. I liked the book, but having the paperback, I didn’t feel as though I needed a hardcover copy.
I miss Leisure books. This one by Holmes was one of those packaged by Jon Tuska’s literary agency. I was a member of Leisure’s western club, which sent me 3 or 4 westerns a month for many years. Not only did they do a lot of classic western material, but a good percentage of new titles too.
August 19th, 2014 at 3:20 pm
Holmes was certainly one of the most reliable writers in the genre, you could always count on a good tale well told.