A novel of melancholy set in RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
A whodunnit Western set in OREGON
22nd October 2024
Dark Frontier by Matthew Harffy, a whodunnit Western set in Oregon.
When former British soldier and police officer Gabriel Stokes heads to Oregon in 1890 to start a new life he’s confronted the harsh reality of his chosen home. So much for escaping the life he left behind, a life that has left him suffering from nightmares and problems with booze and drugs. His friend and former commanding officer John Thornfield has invited him to stay on his ranch, but the moment he arrives, he is given some awful news. Stokes quickly discovers that the old ways of justice back in England do not apply in Oregon. It’s not called the Wild West for nothing.
Choosing a British protagonist for a Western is a wise move for a British author. Gabriel Stokes is undoubtedly the novel’s key strength. Complex, troubled, haunted, conflicted, you couldn’t ask for a more hard-boiled stranger to roll into town.
Although the plot is essentially a murder mystery, Harffy abides by the key conventions of the Western genre, namely a sense of lawnessless and a lone wolf protagonist confronting a plethora of adversaries. And, of course, the setting itself, the Wild West of the United States. The narrative is action and dialogue driven, too, with a typically masculine feel, all essential elements. Consequently, it is light on description. While the setting is ever present, it is almost taken for granted.
When it comes to Westerns, I am very hard to please. I grew up on Westerns. I must have watched every movie John Wayne has ever been in. I binged on High Chapparal. I watched all the Spaghetti Westerns too. As a child, I was mesmerised. I loved the settings and the romance and the triumph of good over evil. As an adult, I want a lot more from a Western. Consequently, I did not find the Dark Frontier particularly immersive or interesting. I did not find myself lost in the setting or connected to the characters. That isn’t to say that the story is not a good one. It is more reflective of who I am as a reader.
In my view, a good Western is exceptionally difficult to pull off. The strictures of the genre are confining, and there is a need absolute authenticity — extremely difficult to achieve for someone not native to the USA — along with depth of insight and subtle irony, and an atmosphere that is verging on gothic. All these elements are needed to make a book in the genre stand out.
But Dark Frontier stands out in its own way. Harffy has aimed to entertain and he has succeeded. The plain, straight-forward prose and solid pacing make Dark Frontier a popular sort of novel, one that will no doubt attract many readers.
Guest Review by Isobel Blackthorn for the TripFiction Team
Isobel is a prolific Australian novelist. She writes both contemporary/literary, thrillers and dark fiction. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and via her website.
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