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Post by killercrab on Jun 4, 2008 2:20:54 GMT
 EDGE No.3 Apache Death by George G.Gilman - Nel 1972 I was 9 years old when APACHE DEATH hit the book shelves and I can't imagine how it would of affected me back then - reading it now with post modern eyes , it still has the power to shake my cage. The book itself feels like an *episode* in Edge's life - rather than a story with a beginning , middle and finite end - Harknett begins the episode in the thick of the action - in this case at a ruined farmstead after the Apaches have wiped out most a family and kidnapped one of the daughters. This abduction isn't over stated - but comes to a conclusion as the book draws to a close. It's just one fact of life in a harsh enviroment. The book is peppered with interesting characters - many I guess could be classed as western cliche - but that's not to denigrate them as the western itself generally functions to set rules like any popular genre. What's unexpected it that characters you come to like aren't immortal - Harknett will as soon smite them down ( or scalp them !) as the regulation baddies. The Apaches as a whole are painted as a murdering bunch of savages - the lines of black and white - good and evil blur at Edge - a *loner* as the first book suggests - but a man I suspect has some morality buried somewhere in his soul - but good intentions aren't much use against Cochise and his 300 braves - not if you want to survive APACHE DEATH ! I like Edge's *gimick* - his cut throat razor hidden in a pouch at the back of his neck - it gives him a quirkey uniqueness . The book also peppers the EXTREME violence ( and it is outrageous at times) with sly if not subtle humour - quite modern in places - that supplies a relief from the unending carnage. Whilst the episode concludes satisfactorily - it leaves the door open for more adventures and I'll defintely be joining Edge again for his own brand of justice ! In a word - I was impressed... |
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Post by bushwick on Jun 4, 2008 15:30:22 GMT
This is a phenomenal book. It's reputed to be the goriest of all the Edges isn't it? I've read most of the first 20 and I'd have to concur. It's ludicrously brutal in its descriptions of violence. It tears along though, and I recall old Joe makes a remark somewhere along the line to the effect of 'the Indians were here first, ma'am' or similar. Sometimes his amorality is very moral, if you get what I mean.
The interplay with the camp white-suited English gambler is a pleasure to read. They're a formidable team - Edge has almost met his match with this dandy - and the constant ribbing of each other (mainly Edge on 'English' with constant 'you're a poof'-type cracks) is a nice 'buddy movie' kind of touch. I say it about many things, but what a film this would make! We'd have to dig Lucio Fulci up to direct it...
This is the Edge I lent to my mate to show him why I harp on about PC westerns all the time (he loved it btw). Terry Harknett is a very gifted writer - the plotting is clever and tight, deceptively so, and his lean character descriptions are really effective. You can tell he's writing quickly, but he's usually got a flowing prose - not so many 'put the book down and giggle' early Guy N Smith-style moments. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind!
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 4, 2008 20:32:08 GMT
It's my favourite Edge. The first one I bought new. I think the next book Killers Breed (the first of the Civil War gorefests) edges (sorry) it in terms of bloodshed. When I used to read 'em as a teeny, I'd imagine various famous actors as characters. The last time I read this, Lord Hartley Fallowfield was played by Hugh Grant!. Can't remember who it was originally.
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Post by Dr Terror on Jun 8, 2008 21:58:39 GMT
Classic!
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Post by killercrab on Jul 2, 2010 16:30:19 GMT
I've a hankering to read Edge #1 which came over me yesterday! Maybe it's the sun...
KC
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Post by andydecker on Jul 3, 2010 16:05:26 GMT
The series imho found its legs with No.4 Killer´s Breed.
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Post by killercrab on Jul 3, 2010 16:24:34 GMT
Started book 1 yesterday - I'd forgotten how bloody these were! Seriously this is violent stuff...
KC
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Post by ripper on Aug 6, 2016 7:12:32 GMT
'Apache Death' is probably my favourite of the Edges I have read so far. It's brutal, bloody stuff, fast-paced and sparing. I prefer the earlier books for their rawness; later on in the series the style mellowed somewhat, I thought.
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