From School Library Journal
YA-A fast-paced, shoot-em up story with a hint of romance. After the death of his wife, Al Murphy, one-time lawman, drinks and drifts. While on the trail, he witnesses a murder. He accompanies the sheriff and the body back to town where the victim's sister and owner of McCormick's Mercantile hires him to ride shotgun with her freight. Christine believes that Gibson, a rival merchant, had her brother killed. Murphy takes the job and finds self-respect and friendship among the threats of violence. Teens will enjoy this short novel written in the traditional Western style by an outdoorsman who is obviously no stranger to guns and horses.
Carol Clark, R.E. Lee High School, Springfield, VACopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Al Murphy, onetime lawman, has sunk to being a penniless saddle bum. After the love of his life, Midge, was killed in a tragic accident, Murphy settled deep into the bottle, but the pain in his gut put a stop to his drinking. On the trail, he stumbles upon a murder and kills two of the perpetrators. The victim's sister, Christine McCormick, hires Murphy to ride shotgun on her supply wagon. She and her brother were merchants involved in a vicious--and now deadly--price war with Bernard Gibson Mercantile. With a job and an interest in Christine, Murphy begins to regain self-respect. He also rediscovers his capacity for friendship as he works with Skeets, the supply-wagon driver, and Moses, who cares for the McCormick horses. The fourth entry in popular YA author Paulsen's Murphy series is as consistently engrossing as its predecessors. Murphy is much more than a pair of blazing six-guns. He's an evolving, multidimensional character whose strengths and weaknesses are evident in all of us.
Wes Lukowsky
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
