Sun 3 Jul 2022
A Western Fiction Review by Dan Stumpf: GEORGE C. APPELL – Posse.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western Fiction[3] Comments
GEORGE C. APPELL – Posse. Macmillan, hardcover. 1961. Avon T-549, paperback, date?
A superior Western novel by an under-appreciated author.
Three owlhoots hurrah the flyspeck town of Broadman’s Bend Arizona, killing a dog, mauling a local belle, and pistol-conking the Chinese Laundryman. The townsfolk set about assessing the damage and debating what to do and whether to pursue them, then things take a more serious turn when they discover the bank has been robbed.
Which puts the townsfolk in a bit of a quandary. Most of the able-bodied citizens in the area are away on round-ups and cattle drives, which leaves only the softer sort of townsfolk to go in pursuit of the desperadoes. And Appell throws in another wrinkle with a flashback disclosing that Bank Clerk Arthur Milam planned the robbery and enlisted three dangerous hard-cases to carry it out. Now he thinks they’re going to share the loot with him.
All unawares, a posse slowly forms: a hard-scrabble miner, an aspiring artist anxious to prove his manhood; a well-to-do idler, pressured to join by his father, the leading citizen of Broadman’s Bend; the sheriff, a once-able lawman dissipated by drink; and the Chinese Laundryman named William The Kid.
The five of them are hardly a match for three hardened outlaws, or so it would seem, but Appell develops his story skillfully, bringing out the strengths in his characters but not forgetting the weaknesses, with thoughtful, fast-reading prose that adds depth and dimension to a tale of sudden violence and stubborn persistence.
This was my first experience of reading George C. Appell, but it won’t be the last!
July 3rd, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Previously reviewed by Dan on this blog was George Appell’s novel GINMAN’S GRUDGE, a paperback original from Lion in 1953:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=30322
Included in the comments that follow is a long list of Appell’s other western fiction, both short stories and longer work.
July 3rd, 2022 at 11:08 pm
I really liked his historical novel QUEEN’S OWN set in 19th Century Afghanistan. This sounds a bit more complex than the average Western.
July 5th, 2022 at 7:58 pm
I read two short stories by Appell a few years ago in a late issue of the pulp format Adventure. Both stories dealt with a man slowly crumbling due to a mistake he had made earlier and being forced into a gamble to redeem himself. Excellent characterization, rising well above the usual cardboard stock. I found the endings forced, though, perhaps because of the pressure to manufacture a happy ending.
Another blogger reviewed Three Trails, where a corrupt sheriff sends out three of his least valued deputies to find a gunman who knows where the marshal’s bodies are buried. The gunman put them there. The marshal hopes to cover the disappearance of the gunman in the dust this trio raises. Similar theme to Posse, but developed differently.
I’d read one of his stories whenever I come across one. What higher recommendation can I give?