SHOTGUN

by William Wingate ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 1980

A bloody but tiresome retread of Shane in modern dress. The Stranger, Hardacre, appears at widower Jedemai's gas station in Baptist's Fire--he's pushing his conked-out VW. Jed's leg is broken from the car accident that took his wife's life, but his narrator-daughter Lou is handy with repairs, so Jed invites the Stranger to stay with them and help reassemble a tractor motor to pay for bed and board. However, silent Hardacre draws abuse from the cohorts of Mr. Cam (a semi-retired mafia godfather who's fond of Lou)--and, taunted into battle with a giant hood, Hardacre jellies the man with two blows and a knee. Next day the giant's brother tries to waste Hardacre while his hair is being cut, but the silent one shotguns him. Soon two imported assassins show up (their bantering dialogue recycled wholesale from Hemingway's ""The Killers""), and Hardacre dispatches them in a bloodbath that leaves him hospitalized. Then he disappears from the hospital after slitting the throat of an evil sheriff's deputy--and finally Hardacre, now legendary, sweeps into Mr. Cain's hideaway mansion and with his super-shotgun blows away five hoods and then Mr. Cam himself-just as the godfather is deflowering the willing Lou. A crude rip-off.

Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION