Pun Salad

The latest and (alas) probably the last entry in Robert B. Parker's series of westerns featuring Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. Paperback's due out in May; I got the hardcover when Amazon inexplicably put new copies on sale last year for $9.99. (Consumer note: it pays to check your Amazon wishlist every so often.)

It helps to have read the previous books in the series. After trials and tribulations, Virgil and Everett have returned to the scene of their first outing, Appaloosa. Things have changed: the town is booming, and there is (literally) a new sheriff in town, Amos Callico. Callico is ambitious and corrupt, having his beady eyes on becoming Governor, and eventually President. Virgil and Everett go the freelance route instead, signing up a number of saloons to provide protection services. It's an unstable situation, made worse by pissed-off Indians, an ex-Confederate general who's disappointed that Virgil shot his kid, and the appearance of a hired gunman who is both menacing and affable.

Virgil and Everett muddle through, as always, and this book is a fitting end to the series.