Sudden Books by Oliver Strange

Until recently, I had only ever read 2 books set in the "wild west".

The second was "Incident at Twenty-Mile" by all-time favourite writer, Trevanian. I didn't read the book because it was a western - I read it because I was reading all of Trevanian's books.

The first was a book called "Sudden Outlawed" by Oliver Strange. This was one of my father's books and was probably the only book he owned which I read. The book was originally published in 1935 and I guess I read it when I was in my teens (late 70s).

I remember enjoying the book at the time. The hero of the stories is Jim Green but he earns the nickname "Sudden" because of how fast he is on the draw. The first book deals with how he comes to find himself on the wrong side of the law, through no real fault of his own. The remaining books follow him as he travels from town to town righting wrongs while looking for the two men who crossed the man who was like a father to him.

The writing and the dialogue is a joy. Here is the passage where Jim hears about the wrongs done by these two men:

The other was silent awhile, fighting for breath, and then, "Peterson stole my li'l gal an' broke my heart," he said slowly. "An' when yu was East, gettin' some larnin', that houn' Webb stripped me." His voice was harsh, pregnant with passion; hatred gave him a last spasm of strength. "Yo're the fastest fella with a gun I ever see, an' I've knowed some o' the best ; I'm leavin' them two skunks to yu.”

I remembered the series recently and I discovered the following from the web:

1. The books are out of print
2. Oliver Strange was an English man who apparently never travelled to America
3. Sudden Outlawed was not the first book Strange wrote, but is the first in story order
4. After Strange's death,  another author named Frederick H. Christian added 5 more stories to Strange's 10
5. The books are available to read on the web. I assume this is because the copyright has expired (Strange passed away in 1952) but I don't claim to be a copyright expert! 

Having re-read the first book, I kept going and am now reading book 6: "Sudden TakesThe Trail".

The only warning I would issue is that the books are far from politically correct. I assume that the overt racism which many of the characters display is supposed to represent life in the wild west as opposed to any beliefs held by the author.

So if you are interested in stories of outlaws, law-men, gamblers, saloon-keepers, cattleman, rustlers, and prospectors then follow the link above.