Destry Rides Again (1930) - Max Brand

Written by Max Brand
Read by J. P. O’Shaughnessy
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 48 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 09-30-09
Publisher: Books in Motion

Max Brand is the pseudonyms used by author Frederick Faust. He used 10 other names as well. From what I can tell, all his books are now trademarked as Max Brand.

Harrison (Harry) Destry was a rough-and-tumble fighter who never lost a battle. But after six years in jail for a robbery he didn’t commit, he comes back a changed man. The townsfolk believe he’s beaten. They think all the fights gone right out of him. And that’s exactly what Destry wants them to think. Because that’s the way he alone will serve justice to the 12 men who framed him.

A review - This is a better than average pulp western and, as is the case with many of Brand’s westerns, has an anti-hero in search of an identity. In addition Destry is focused on revenge and his main antagonist is his closest friend. The plot is well constructed with well-drawn subsidiary characters and provides a number of interesting twists. The writing is close to poetry. …none better than Chapter 39. All in all this is an enjoyable and undemanding work.

Do like trivia? When does the novel take place? Wikipedia figured it out…
The time setting of Destry Rides Again is never explicitly stated, and obvious markers such as presidents or governors are not mentioned. The use of telephones definitely places the action no earlier than 1878, when telephones were first introduced to Texas. Brand mentions Lefty Turnbull has been to the Klondike River and back; while Turnbull could theoretically have gone to the Klondike at any time, it is most likely that Turnbull would have participated in the Klondike Gold Rush, marking Destry’s release as no earlier than 1897, and probably at least two years later to allow Turnbull adequate time to have gone to Canada and returned. Furthermore, Charlie Dangerfield refers to Mt. McKinley in chapter 32. Denali Mountain in Alaska was not referred to as Mt. McKinley until 1897, implying the events of the novel, particularly Destry’s release, would have taken place around or after 1897. If the T&O Railroad that bribes Clyde Orrin is the Oklahoma City & Texas Railroad, then that would place Destry’s release no later than 1904, the date of the Oklahoma City & Texas’s sale to the St. Louis, San Francisco & Texas line. In any event, the absence of references to motorcars or to any man having served in World War I suggests a setting no later than 1916.