Shadows from Boot Hill by L. Ron Hubbard Review

 

STORY SYNOPSIS: Every man walks with a shadow . . . but what happens when he acquires a second one? Just ask Brazos—a dead ringer for Jack Palance who’s a cold-blooded killer for hire with blood on his hands and a posse on his tail.

Desperate for cash, Brazos accepts $200 to gun down a local man named Brant. He’ll earn every penny . . . but in the end there’ll be the devil to pay. 


Because to put a bullet in Brant means putting one in his partner as well—an eerie stranger schooled in the black art of witchcraft. This is one killing that brings with it a deadly curse—and a second shadow.

As Brazos is about to discover, the Wild West doesn’t get any wilder than when a man is damned to live—and die—in the Shadows from Boot Hill.

Also includes the Western adventures The Gunner from Gehenna, in which a plot to steal a miner’s gold reveals how a good man can go bad . . . and a bad man can do good, and Gunman!, the story of an aging gunfighter turned lawman who shows his town what a real man is made of.

 

 

A note from L. Ron Hubbard, written many years ago, that could as well be addressed to you, today’s reader:

 

“Dear Range Boss: Four million of my words have been published in fifty different magazines. . . . Just now I’m larruping fantasy fiction more than anything else, though I’ve been writing Westerns for some time, too. Hope your readers like Shadows from Boot Hill.

 

The Old West was superstitious in the extreme and . . . reeks with more fantasy than The Arabian Nights.”

 

 

 HISTORICAL FACT 

SUPERSTITION 
IN THE WILD WEST 

 

The Old West was very superstitious.

 

For example the horseshoe was used to protect and attract good and thwart bad fortune in many homes of the Old West.

 

Here are some horseshoe basics you need to know:
  
To hang a horseshoe with the ends pointing upwards is good luck as it catches all sorts for any good luck.

 

 

  


To hang it with the ends pointing down, is bad luck as all the good luck will fall out.

So make sure you hang your horseshoes properly!

 

Horseshoes were also considered lucky because they were made by blacksmiths

A blacksmith could not only heal the sick, but when a couple was married by one, their marriage would be a happy one.

 

 

REVIEW:  “L. Ron Hubbard was a master storyteller from the American 'Golden Age'. He especially excelled in the American West.

 

One of the distinctions Hubbard held was the ability to find new approaches to the well known material of gunslinger heroes and villains.”—Midwest Book Review

My Review:

This was a great book and I loved all of the references to the southwest. I have always loved Witch Doctors since I was little and one was on Scooby Doo. I was surprised that this is listed as a western in the back of the book, because I would call it a science fiction western with a paranormal twist. The "shadow" was a great edition to the story because we all have that shadow or voice that we need to deal with. There was so much history in the book, and I never knew that blacksmiths could perform marriages. Boot Hill is an actual place and it definitely makes sense that there would be "shadows" causing trouble. The glossary at the end was very useful and it helped me with the western lingo. There is also a section about the author that was very interesting to read. There are also two other stories that are well worth the read. I was also given the opportunity to listen to the audio drama. I LOVED the different voices, the sound effects, and how it all fit together perfectly. This multicast performance is the best way to listen to books on cd. I am giving the book a 4/5, and the Audio Drama a 5/5. I was given copies to review, however all opinions are my own.