Monday, September 14, 2015

Misfit Lil Rides In - Chap O'Keefe

The appropriately titled MISFIT LIL RIDES IN introduces one of Chap O'Keepe's most appealing characters: Miss Lilian Goodnight, daughter of Arizona rancher Ben Goodnight. Dubbed Misfit Lil because of her habit of causing mischief and getting into trouble, she dresses in buckskins, can ride and shoot as well as any man and better than most, and can out-cuss a muleskinner when she puts her mind to it. She bears a certain resemblance to Calamity Jane in attitude and actions, although not in appearance. Misfit Lil is much better looking.

She's also a fine person to have on your side if you're framed for murder and have to go on the run from a posse, which is what happens to veteran army scout Jackson Farraday in this excellent, fast-paced novel. There's also a band of bloodthirsty Apache renegades on the loose, as well as the members of a gunrunning ring who are willing to kill to cover up their crimes and a stiff-necked cavalry lieutenant who's quick to believe the worst of our heroine. It all adds up to quite a mess for Lil and Farraday to straighten out before they can set things right.

Chap O'Keefe, actually our old friend Keith Chapman, is a great yarn-spinner who's at the top of his game in MISFIT LIL RIDES IN. All his books that I've read have been very entertaining and well-written, and this may well be my favorite so far. I'm glad there are several more books in the series waiting for me to read them. Highly recommended.


4 comments:

Cap'n Bob said...

She looks more like Annie Oakley to me.

Unknown said...

News brief for Cap'n Bob! Misfit Lil's antecedents are discussed in the Bonus Feature added to the Kindle ebook edition. The title of the article is "Heroines of the Wilder West."

Cap'n Bob said...

Close enough, I reckon.

Unknown said...

Yes, indeed! I would agree it does look like artist Michael Thomas used a particular picture of Annie Oakley (you can find the one at Google Images) for his fine piece of portraiture used on the cover. But I do hope, maybe vainly, that many Rough Edges readers, like James, will want to enjoy the larger picture that comes from reading the books!