Review of "Buchanan’s Big Showdown," by Jonas Ward

 Review of

 Buchanan’s Big Showdown, by Jonas Ward

 Four out of five stars

Buchanan as a noble western hero

 The mighty Tom Buchanan and his boxing pal Coco Bean are traveling to Dodge City to meet with gambler Luke Short. Their goal is to stage a prizefight between Coco and a massive soldier at the local military fort. While the governor has given permission for the fight to take place and there are business interests in the town that stand to gain a great deal, there are many that still oppose it. The Colonel commanding the local fort is a pompous incompetent and a brutal outlaw gang led by a deserter is gathering nearby.

 Buchanan is once again forced to override his peaceful nature and deal with the outlaws in the only way they understand, with violence. He also shows his tender side in interacting with a widow whose son is in love with a local girl where her father opposes the match. The action moves quickly, the evil ones plot and Buchanan counters their every move, all of which is typical of a Buchanan story.

 Jonas Ward’s Buchanan stories are western hero fiction at its best. Buchanan always does good, even when it appears that he is doing bad when shooting down a man.