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Hired Gun Wastes No Words

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BY AL HUTCHISON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

"Resolution" by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $25.95)

As he proved with "Appaloosa," Robert B. Parker is just as effective writing about the flinty Old West as he has been writing New England-based contemporary detective stories featuring the inimitable Spenser or some lesser-known literary sleuths and their colorful sidekicks and sexual conquests.

As in "Appaloosa," the hero in "Resolution" is Everett Hitch, a taciturn gunman with a talent for vexing villains in an essentially lawless environment. Both book titles represent fictional communities where, in the latter days of the 19th century, the concept of law and order is a precarious one where the Bad Guys in the Black Hats are accustomed to having their way, no matter how many innocent lives may be taken in the process.

Hitch is destined to straighten out those miscreants, but even he can't do it alone. In "Appaloosa," he was joined by his pal Virgil Cole, who shares his waste-no-words speaking style and, if anything, is even more confident about his ability to prevail in any gun duel. Eventually, Cole shows up in Resolution, just in time to catch the attention of those - including Hitch's sleazy employer - who aspire to monopolize profits from brothels, livery stables, saloons, lumber mills, copper mines or real estate.

Parker conveys layers of meaning through simple, uncomplicated dialog (you can read this book in a single evening) and lets the reader's imagination roam freely on the spare western landscape. Parker's Spenser may be slick but his Hitch and Cole are rough hewn and wonderfully appealing.

Al Hutchison of Citrus County is a freelance writer.

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