I was “just tickled” by this silly study of cardboard characters. Each actor is a mechanical wind-up toy set in motion and the outcome is predictable from the first couple of pages. There is little imagination, development, or drama here. I can’t give it the lowest review because it is, at least unintentionally, at times funny. It’s also useful as an example of a stale genre that greater writers (Cormac McCarthy) would respond to later. ( )

This book set the standard for me as an author. It was the first Kelton book that I read and his work in this novel is outstanding. His storytelling skills take the reader back to a time when the character of men was tested out in the open for all to see. And that is what this tale does. I actually felt like I was watching a movie on the big screen while swept up in the turmoil between the characters Kelton so capably created. This story will make you a Kelton fan! ( )