Published by Gold Medal 1956
William Ard, creator of hardboiled protagonists Timothy Dane and Lou Largo, wrote his best known character under the pseudonym Jonas Ward. The Name’s Buchanan is the first book in the titular character’s series. Unlike Ard’s detectives Buchanan is far from hardboiled. He’s an open, honest and friendly guy. He’s slow to rile, but extremely deadly with guns or fists if pushed.
The story involves Buchanan returning from Mexico where he’s been working as a hired gun. Unfortunately for him, his first stop upon returning to the states is Agrytown, a corrupt little burg owned and operated by Simon Agry. Buchanan’s arrival in town coincides with that of Juan del Cuervo, the son of a wealthy Mexican family from just across the border. He has come to Agrytown seeking revenge for the rape of his sister by Agry’s good-for-nothing son. Things get complicated from there, and nothing goes exactly as expected, either for the reader or the characters.
The story, full of double and triple crosses among the villains, plays out more like a crime story than a traditional western, with Buchanan stumbling into the middle of an already tense situation and escalating it simply by being present. The book comes in at a slim 152 pages, but it’s packed with characters, each with their own agenda, and never feels rushed. In fact, the multiple characters are so richly rendered that at times Buchanan risks becoming a guest star in his own book. Ultimately this only feels like a flaw because Buchanan so interesting the reader wants more. But Ard is in full control of his narrative, and the multiple plot threads come together in a surprising but satisfying way.
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