William Macleod Raine was a prolific writer of over 85 novels, mainly westerns, from 1905 until his death in 1954. Square Shooter seems to be not a very original story - perhaps because we have seen it played out in countless western TV shows over the years - but it is well crafted and entertaining. It must have been doubly so when it was published in 1934.
Cole Sanborn has a notorious reputation and seems to be the culprit behind the robbery of the K&J Express train. Rather than hide out, Cole casually hangs out in plain view of the town of Jonesboro knowing someone impersonated him. In fact, he volunteers to help Sheriff Magruder solve the case. He soon finds the town and its officials under the thumb of power hungry Chet Radbourne. When Jed Burrows died, Radbourne's gang took over his neighbouring ranch and he became the guardian of Jed's niece, young Mary Landis, whom he plans to marry to solidify the property. But Mary hatches a plan of her own after meeting Cole ~ She'll marry him instead and he can fight off Radbourne's gang. It's a platonic business arrangement, but Cole sees to it she is protected. His way is by the law, only getting into fights if its necessary and only shooting if he has to.
He manages, with the help of some friends and a few disgruntled Radbourne men, to secure her ranch house and show the town Radbourne is a fool and they needn't follow his orders. Several times it seems they will be cornered or outright killed as Radbourne orders another deadly ambush or trap, but Cole is the bigger man who outguesses him and turns the tables with skill rather than firepower. Slowly, Radbourne's men are killed off, leaving a star bunch of cowhands who begin to doubt Radbourne's orders. There is, of course, a grand finale complete with a burning farmhouse, shoot outs, hand to hand battles, cowardly escapes, a solution to the train robbery, and the fruition of the long hoped for romance.
The plot rolls out like an episode of my favourite classic western series Cheyenne, and that's a compliment. Sure, the story has been told before, but it was an entertaining and fun read.
The copy I have is a Triangle Book from 1934 in a great dust jacket.
I don't know if I would read more of his novels, but enjoyed this one. Many titles from William MacLeod Raine can be found as free ebooks online.
1934 / Hardcover / 294 pages
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