I have read several books by Gary McCarthy. I don't think this was one of his best. It is the story of Pete Sills, a young man who is learing the business of being a mustanger. He has bcome one of the best. It is about his love for Candy, the owners daughter and also Maria, a girl who really loves him. All he wants to do is catch wild horses. Candy finally leaves with a Dr. and he and Maria get married. He has made a foe in Lester Barron, who wants to kill all the wild horses to make room for cattle to feed. Lester and his men try to kill Pete and Maria, but in the end right wins out. As Pete quotes his friend Jack Kendall, " If a man died having had one good woman, one good friend and one good horse, he should feel privileged to have lived so well." A short easy to read book but not the greatest by far.

For Gunsmoke fans who crave tidbits of romantic verbal interplay between Matt and Kitty, this book is worth the reading. However, there are glaring character discrepancies, such as Festus's accent, grammar, and ability to read. Worse was the major plot device which contended that Matt was a lawman chosen by the town council and thus could be dismissed by them!

Having grown up with "Gunsmoke," I was excited about the prospect of reading stories featuring the characters of the series. I expected something similar to the books that use the "Star Trek" characters in which relationships are explored and developed, where the past is explained and there is an effort to carry on continuity in the characters' lives. This is the second in the series and so far, it appears that the author doesn't seem to care about Matt, Miss Kitty and Doc because he doesn't seem to know much about them. In the first book of the series, Festus even reads a newpaper. In the second, Matt actually asks Kitty to marry him? The plots, although fairly standard, aren't objectionable. The characterization is what is off the mark. I hope the series continues but maybe the author should watch some more reruns.

For those of you who enjoyed the Gunsmoke show, you will enjoy the book as well. For those who were and are complete fans of the show and can't get enough, you may not like the book as well. The story is quite good, but the characters speak close to perfect english at times, making the book less believable. I would like to see more development of the main characters and perhaps we will see that is future books. I hope there are more.