Black Crossing

This was a fairly quick read featuring interesting characters and lots of action.[b:Black Crossing 7470336 Black Crossing C.K. Crigger https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1262414352s/7470336.jpg 9556982] is [a:C.K. Crigger 1032599 C.K. Crigger https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s homage to an old story theme: a stranger comes to a town run by crooks and cleans things up. The main protagonist in this case, Marshal TJ Osgood, reminds me somewhat of [a:Robert B. Parker 397 Robert B. Parker https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1423098317p2/397.jpg]'s Jesse Stone. TJ Osgood is a late middle age lawman with a checkered past and a history of alcohol abuse, and the town's big man (basically a local lord and a nasty crook) thinks that will make him easy to control. Big mistake, that.The story takes place in a small town in the Idaho timber country. There are several unsavory characters (in addition to the Big Bad) including a nasty gunslinger and some brutal lumberjacks. The townspeople are generally cowed, but Osgood finds allies in an unassuming deputy and his dog and in Ione Gilpatrick a widow and grieving mother (and one tough cookie). The action starts almost as soon as Osgood arrives in the small timber town and really never lets up. Everything happens over a span of just a few days. We get gunfights, physical attacks, bushwhack attempts, kidnapping, and timber rustling. What's not to like?Pretty good book.