FORGOTTEN BOOKS #87: TRAGG’S CHOICE By Clifton Adams



Ed Gorman mentioned on James Reasoner’s blog that Clifton Adams had written five or six of the best westerns ever. Imagine my dismay at reading those words with the realization that while I had a stack of Clifton Adams’ novels, I’d never read one of them! Well, that deficiency has been rectified by my enjoyment of Clifton Adams’ Tragg’s Choice first published in 1969. Tragg is an aging performer. As a U. S. Marshal, he shot a desperado ten years before and then went on a lecture tour to cash in on his fame. But, after ten years, audiences have forgotten the desperado and Tragg finds himself looking for another profession. He meets Jessie Ross, girlfriend of a contemporary desperado with a $10,000 bounty on his head. Jessie tries to talk Tragg into helping her collect the bounty on her boyfriend, but Tragg wants nothing to do with it. A hired assassin, a crazed killer, and a lynch mob keep the plot of Tragg’s Choice unpredictable. Tragg’s Choice won the Spur Award in 1969 for Best Western Novel. It’s well deserved.

20 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #87: TRAGG’S CHOICE By Clifton Adams

    1. george Post author

      You’re right, Jeff. TRAGG’S CHOICE has been forgotten. Yet, it was an award winner decades ago. Shows you how fame can fade away.

      Reply
  1. Todd Mason

    Yep…Patti was asking yesterday or the day before who we’ve been meaning to read…and I need to sit down with, at least, a list of Spur winners and try all the folks I haven’t read yet. Perhaps the only one I’ve read nearly all she published has been Lee Hoffman.

    Reply
  2. Drongo

    Fine pick, George. Adams was already forgotten 25 years after his death, when I started reading him. I’ve probably read a score of his novels, and enjoyed every one. TRAGG’S CHOICE is quite good, and very well-constructed, but my favorite western of his is the melancholy THE LAST DAYS OF WOLF GARNETT, which also won the Spur.

    Even better is a non-western of his called DEATH’S SWEET KISS, from the 50’s. Very James M. Cain-ish.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      I think Bill Crider reviewed Clifton Adams’ DEATH’S SWEET KISS, Drongo. After I finished TRAGG’S CHOICE, I read THE LAST DAYS OF WOLF GARNETT. You’re right, Drongo, it’s an excellent novel!

      Reply
  3. BV Lawson

    I have to admit, I’ve never read a western, but this sounds like a great place to start, so thanks for the recommendation! I guess you saw where producer/writer Ronald D. Moore (of “Battlestar Galactica” fame) is developing a remake of the classic 1960’s TV series “Wild Wild West” starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      I consider Westerns historical novels, BV. And Clifton Adams is an excellent writer to explore. Yes, I was a fan of the original WILD, WILD WEST. The Will Smith remake was a flop. Maybe this new version will capture the unique flavor of the original.

      Reply
  4. Richard Robinson

    I’m posting what updates I can over at the Off to B’con post on my own blog, since I stupidly left my own sign-on password at home. Lots of great people here, books, panels. Weather great. Patti, I met Megan this morning.

    You guys are missing a good one!

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Trust me, you guys would not want to be near me today, Rick. I’ve come down with an upper respiratory infection. Plenty of sneezing and wheezing. I’m not fit company for the convivial BOUCHERCON bunch (or anyone else for that matter). Sounds like you’re having a great time. Megan Abbott is a peach!

      Reply
  5. Evan Lewis

    This guy has been recommended to me many times, but whenever I’m in a store with used westerns I can’t remember his name. Uh, who is it we’re talking about again?

    Reply

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