Takedown

Taming John Wesley Hardin

By: Dale Chase

Narrated by: Jerry L. Wheeler

Few Texans believe the notorious gunman, John Wesley Hardin, who has killed more than 30 men over a 10-year period, will ever be captured; but on a fall day in 1878, he enters the Huntsville prison to serve a 25-year sentence for murder. Witnessing the arrival is convict Garland Quick who, though he's sworn to never again love a desperado, is immediately taken with the handsome 25-year-old killer.

When the two men are thrown together at work in the wheelwright shop, a relationship begins, and Gar is drawn into Hardin's escape attempt, only to pay a price for its failure. Complicating things is lifer Jim Scanlon, Gar's cellmate and sexual partner, who, unlike most others, does not look kindly on the charismatic Hardin.

As years pass, feelings deepen, yet Gar faces an unexpected challenge when Hardin takes up law study and lobbies for a pardon he just might get.

©2013 Dale Chase (P)2018 Dale Chase

Delightful reimagining

The protagonists are likable and sexy, living in a hostile, unjust prison which is surprisingly not homophobic and allows relationships to continue and grow. The sex is less boiler plate than in the usual gay romance. The best is how the novelist creates sympathetic characters who bring the reader to care about them.