Review: Some Must Die

Some Must Die by Gil Brewer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Gil Brewer is renowned for his over-the-top noir paperback originals, all brimming with violence and sexual obsession. His lone attempt at writing a Western proves to be a drawn-out and aggravating novel that tells the story of six unlucky characters snowbound in a cabin with a saddlebag full of stolen money. This trope provides the conflict and forwards the minimalist plot. The characters showed illogical restraint when it came to violence when a killing or two could have resolved the conflicts and ended this dirge fifty pages early. This may have worked better as a short story or novelette. Stick with Brewer's crime novels, which may be inconsistent, but often burn as brightly as the best of the crime fiction of the era.