J.T Edson

 A Town Called Yellowdog

by

J.T. Edson

The citizens of Moondog, Texas, stood staring at the small, blond, insignificant cowhand—only he seemed to be the biggest man present, towering over his two companions, and neither of them lacked size. Cold fury worked on Dusty Fog’s face as he pointed to the signboard announcing the name of the town.

“My brother came here because you begged for help,” he told them. “Danny put his life on the line

and you hadn’t the guts to back him. So he died. The name of this town’s all wrong and I aim to see

it put right. You!” His finger stabbed at the Blue Bull Saloon’s bartender. “Take your paint brush and cover over ‘Moondog’ on that sign. Put ‘Yellowdog’ in its place. Yellowdog, hombre. That’s what your town is—it and everybody in it.”

Slowly, his head hanging in shame, the bartender obeyed; for he and every man in the crowd knew that Dusty spoke the bitter truth.

Danny Fog rides into Moondog hunting for two missing Texas Rangers. They arrived ahead of him…and vanished. Now he’s in danger of becoming the third.

His cover blows almost the moment he hits town, and from that point on he’s playing against a stacked deck—Stella Howkins and her crew of hired guns run Moondog with fear, and the townsfolk are too terrified to speak. Just when Danny finally uncovers the truth, he’s murdered.

That’s when his brother, the Rio Hondo gun wizard Dusty Fog, rides in, backed by the deadly Ysabel Kid and the giant Mark Counter. Together, they aim to uncover what really happened…and settle the score in blood.

I’ve always found J.T. Edson’s work a bit uneven, but this one hits the mark. The action is constant, the mystery is tight, and the violence feels a notch higher than in many of his other books. The writing is sharp too—none of the rambling over‑descriptions that bog down some of his later novels. It left me hopeful that there are still plenty of great Edson stories waiting to be read.

5/5.