Mad River by Donald Hamilton

Mad River (1956/1967) by Donald Hamilton

Before he solidified his reputation as the author of the Matt Helm espionage series, Donald Hamilton wrote several westerns, some of which started life as serialized stories for Collier Magazine. Such is the case with Mad River originally printed by Collier in 1956 and then lengthened into a novel and republished by Gold Medal in 1967. 

While Mad River is well-written (I’ve yet to read anything by Hamilton that wasn’t) and features a few standout action sequences, it bears the tell-tale signs of a shorter work that was padded to hit a required word count rather than a justifiable plot expansion. 

Boyd Cohoon is released from Yuma prison following a 5-year stint for a crime he didn’t commit; he agreed to serve in order to protect the brother of the woman he loves, who has pledged to wait for him. However, nothing goes as planned once Cohoon returns to his hometown and a rather convoluted and sometimes confusing series of events transpires with varying degrees of believability. There are times when the histrionics border on soap opera as everyone is hiding secrets from each other which hold the power to tear families and the entire town of Sombrero apart. 

The cast of characters is larger than is needed and loses focus early, never quite recovering. To top everything off, the ending feels rushed and it all comes together a little too tidily. All in all, a disappointing slog that took far more time to read than I would have expected given the author’s pedigree.

Reviewed by Steve Carroll