Comanche Vengeance by Richard Jessup

 

Ryan had bellowed for one of the cowhands to bring coffee up to the rim, and Sarah’s hands were so cold she could hardly hold the tin cup. She did not drink all of the coffee. She kept half of it and stuck her trigger finger into the warm liquid, grimacing in pain when the needles started biting the flesh back to feeling. But it worked, and once she had the right forefinger loosened up, she stuck it in her mouth to keep it warm.

This 1957 Gold Medal novel from Jessup runs an early Hannie Caulder revenge trail. Where the cinematic Hannie had to be taught to be ready for the vengeance trail, Sarah Phelps has no need of a teaching hand.

After a vicious opening she hits the trail and falls in with a gentle but steadfast companion who aids and abets the long road to vengeance with no expectation of return.

A lot of territory and time is covered in 126 pages—at a higher page count the novel might pack an increased wallop for further scene development but Jessup still has the chops to make the terse version of the revenge trek more than interesting.

A solid Western novel.