Gut Instinct

by Brett McKinley

(Paul Wheelahan)

This is the story of two men and a woman. Clay Hathaway--the trail boss who fought for all he had--and Win Chambers--the outlaw killer. Both loved Carrie, but only one could have her. 

Hathaway first met Chambers on a trail drive. Deep down he knew he was trouble and that suspicion was eventually proven when he killed one of the trail hands and disappeared. Once they reached trails end, Hathaway gave up the drive to build himself a home and stock it with cows to marry Carrie. 

But then disaster struck, and Hathaway had to take to the trail again to make money for more cows. While he was away, Carrie married Chambers who soon went off the rails and turned outlaw.

Neither man was done with Carrie. Hathaway still wanted her for his wife. Chambers just wanted her. 

Two men riding head-on into a gun smoke showdown.

Originally published in 1965 as One Must Die. 

McKinley (Wheelahan) has written a rollicking adventure where the violent ending doesn't really come until the last page. 

The action scenes are vividly drawn with a stampede, gunfights, and a fistfight thrown in for good measure. Hathaway is a classic hero as far as westerns go, while after about halfway, we don't see Chambers until we get to the end.

Carrie on the other hand is torn between the man she loves and the man she eventually marries on the spur of the moment while Hathaway is away with a wagon train. 

Possibly the best part about reading the Cleveland Westerns is that they aren't too long and once you start the first page, you're right into the action. At 97 pages, they can't afford to get off to a slow start.

 I rather enjoyed this story as with most of Wheelahan's books that I've read over the years.