Kerrigan

Goaded into a gunfight with Roland Thornton, the boss' son, Clay Kerrigan kills Roland and soon finds himself facing Roland's equally trigger-happy father and brothers

The author of Over on the Lonesome ( LJ 8/91) saves the time-worn plot of his new Western from mediocrity with an unusual setting: Alaska during the gold rush. Kerrigan, fleeing the vengeful father of two men he had to kill in Texas, joins a cattle drive to Alaska, where beef on the hoof can be sold to hungry miners at fabulous prices. The drive is beset by outlaws, Indians, impenatrable mountain passes, weather, and more weather. Kerrigan's interrupted romance with lovely Angie Douglas complicates matters; this persistent woman insists on getting into the action, even gun battles. Kerrigan emerges from his adventures somewhat the worse for wear but with happiness in his grasp. Tough action, tough speech (but no profanity), and good reading about a beautiful country.
- Sister Avila, Acad. of the Holy Angels, Minneapolis
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kerrigan, an itinerant cowpoke just scuffling by, is quick with his gun and his fists. When he kills Roland Thornton in a gunfight and the rest of the Thornton clan vows revenge, it's time to move on. Kerrigan lands on a ranch owned by Vance Douglas and his daughter, Angie. Things are going well--Kerrigan becomes their top hand and falls in love with Angie--until the Thorntons show up. Another Thornton dies, and Vance asks Kerrigan to move on, fearing for his daughter's safety. Kerrigan heads to Alaska on a cattle drive, where once again he has to confront his past as embodied in the Thorntons. It's a creaky plot that in lesser hands would elicit only yawns, but Ritchie keeps the action moving, fleshes out his characters, and supplies enough suspense--the Thorntons are coming, but when?--to maintain interest. Decent reading for armchair cowboys. Wes Lukowsky