Book Review: Golden Lightning by Max Brand (Also Published as Lightning of Gold)
“Lefty” Bill Ranger is an honest man. When his partner in an Alaskan gold prospecting claim dies before Ranger can deliver the partner’s share, he refuses to take the lot and donates it to charity. This attracts the attention of Menneval, a man with an evil reputation. Nothing can be proven, but Menneval’s had four partners in Alaska, and none of them is around anymore. Fortunately, Menneval isn’t interested in having a new partner. He wants Ranger to go to California, look up the Crossons, and report back what he finds. Ranger agrees on the condition that this will not harm the Crossons.
In California, it turns out the Crossons, old Peter and his son Oliver, live in a remote area of the mountains and have a peculiar reputation. It’s said that Peter Crosson refuses to have guns on his property. And anyone who goes in to confront the Crossons comes back…changed. They are gunmen and outlaws no more, and they pass out of the country. Rumors prove nothing, of course, so Lefty Bill Ranger rides in to the mountains to see for himself, doing some trapping on the side.
The California mountains are an eerie place to Ranger, far from the snowy wastes of Alaska he’s spent most of his life in. The animals seem to have no fear of man, and are larger than he has ever seen before. Especially the wolves. It feels like he’s the one being watched.
Eventually, Ranger gets to see Oliver Crosson, a young man who can run and ride like the wind, and seemingly can control both wolves and pumas. He carries no gun, but can kill a mountain lion with a knife. Ranger then meets Peter Crosson, a former schoolteacher who has raised Oliver in this isolated wilderness for the protection of both his son and the rest of the world. Peter feels there is a curse laid upon the use of powder and shell that will interact with the blood curse of Oliver and lead to the death of many.
While Lefty Bill is on the ranch, other intruders arrive. It is a gang of hard men, led by Chester “Chet” Lyons, who has a grudge against Peter Crosson for not allowing one of his men to rest on the land since the man would not give up his guns. That man then died of his wounds received elsewhere. Also with Chet is his beautiful young cousin Nancy Lyons, who came to California to see if she could talk him into reforming.
Oliver makes two of Lyons’ men vanish, and the gang is forced to retreat. They find their missing men alive, though shook to the core. On the way off the ranch, one of the gang shoots a wolf that was tailing them for petty revenge. Meanwhile, Oliver kept a revolver off one of the vanished men as his trophy. Its potential to deal death intoxicates him.
When Oliver learns that his wolf friend was killed by the Lyons gang, the youth swears vengeance. Can a deluge of blood be stopped?
This…is not what I was expecting in a Max Brand western. Perhaps it should have been given the ending of Torture Trail but somehow I wasn’t ready for how mystical the story seemed. Much is made of Oliver’s connection to nature, ala Mowgli or Tarzan. Keeping how he accomplishes his feats off page for the early going accentuates their uncanny nature as they unnerve his victims.
Unlike Westerns where righteous vengeance is the desired outcome, here the emphasis is on breaking Oliver free from the path of revenge he is on before the young force of nature becomes a danger to himself and others.
Oh, and the “golden lightning” of the title? That turns out to be the effect of just the right woman on a man when they meet. Ranger had that moment, very briefly, in his youth, but now he gets to witness the lightning of gold in all its splendor.
Good: As described above, this is an atypical Western tale with above average pulp writing. I liked the use of balding, middle-aged Lefty Bill as the primary viewpoint character. Oliver is fascinating, and it’s easy to understand why the other characters become interested in him.
Less good: Most of the minor characters are “types” who are just there to move the plot along. One of the major plot twists is heavily telegraphed, and only the rawest of greenhorn readers will miss it. Some readers may find the notion of a child born with an instinct for murder dubious, while others might not like how the “happy ending” requires some evil deeds go unpunished.
Content note: Animals die, especially that one wolf. Brief bullying.
Overall: An excellent example of pulp Western writing that shows the versatility of the genre. Recommended to Western fans looking for something a bit different.
Not related, but have a song from Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning.
