Ramrod

by Luke Short

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553200089
• ISBN13: 9780553200089
• Release Date: May 1981
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Noir Western

Dave Nash is a man who believes strongly in loyalty even to those who do not merit it.He is employed as a cowhand by the cowardly braggart"Walt Shipley" who has challenged other local ranchers,especially the powerful "Frank Ivey"to stop him from bringing sheep into the region.He is forced to back down and flees in shame and disgrace leaving his strong willed fiancee "Connie Dickinson" to exact revenge on those responsible including her own father .She persuades Nash to become her ramrod and run the Shipley ranch under her guidanceConnie is an obsessed woman who pushes the reluctant Nash and her other hands into precipitate action .She is manipulative and without scruple in her desire to strike back at those she deems to blame for her fiancees shameThere are two strong female characters,the other being Rose a local dressmaker and the book is more character driven than is usual in the formula Western It is grim novel in tone and there are links to the noir movement in movies and books with the controlling woman using her wiles and charms to get what she wants.When Connie allows the obsession inherent in her character to get out of hand the result is disrution murder and chaos within the community in which the book is setMen might find the way the male sex is portryed as clay in the hands of a sexually voracious woman a tad unflattering but it makes a change from the usual Western novel of the era.I suspect lovers of the urban noir writers like Jim Thompson and David Goodis will get more from thre book than will L'Amour or Zane Grey admirers

Grim Western From a Popcorn Era

Although not as dark, as H.A. Derossa's work (highly recommended), this deeper than usual western drama is very pleasing. Discussing it and the movie made from it - with western veteran Joel Macrea and Veronica Lake - is an interchangeable exercise. The movie, with the exception of three minor changes, was word for word what Short wrote. Lake's character is a scheming rancher who attempts to twist Macrea's wandering saddlebum around her finger to gain control of more land. In an era when most female characters eventually swoon into a man's arms and give up their evil ways, Lake's character (I forget the character names) gets darker. Even after she is the cause of a man's violent death. She is affected by this, she's even shocked a little by what she has done, but she does not sway from her goal.This is a strong female character operating in a hard man's world. The problem is, she has learned how to be hard but not honest. She lies and cheats to get what she wants, and eventually this does her in (that's not a spoiler by the way - the good guys still have to win, after all!)The story is taught and the motivations honest. Short writes a lot of good westerns, and this is one of his best.