The No-Gun Man by L. Ron Hubbard

As a young man Monte Calhoun thought the measure of a man was how hard he could drink and how straight he can shoot.But, as principled as a young Jimmy Stewart, several years back East have changed him.  He has become The No-Gun Man.  Monte's civilized now...even if that means refusing to avenge the murder of his own father.  But in a land of outlaws and ambushes, it's only a question of how far Monte will be pushed before he pushes back...with a vengeance. (taken from the back of the cd case)

I can't give this an amazing review, but I put the blame for that on myself.  I'm not an audio book person and that's what I had to work with.  The audio CD was actually quite well done.  Each character has a distinctive voice and the narrative is nicely done.  There are great little sound effects in the background.  For me, I can't sit still which is why books work so much better for me.  I'm constantly turning pages so that both my mind and body are busy.  With the audio CD, I kept falling asleep.  This is NOT a reflection on the story itself but rather my own personal issue.

Now, on to the story!  Once I was able to listen to it several times and get the entire story, I actually really enjoyed it.  Had this been a movie, I'd have been popcorning my way through it!

Monte is quite the interesting character.  When he comes back from East, he doesn't quite fit in with his family and friends and the atmosphere he grew up in.  His own brother can't understand him.  The law keeps looking for him to flip out and get all gunhappy on someone, but Monte just finds the whole thing humorous.  Until he's pushed too far.  Then it's all bets off.

The interesting part for me was trying to decipher whether Monte was actually better off or worse off for his time in the east.  Once he snaps, I can't tell if it's the same behavior he would have had before or if it's actually worse because he's sort of 'refinding' himself.

If you enjoy westerns, this one is pretty fun.  The characters are what you'd expect from most westerns but the actions are a little different.  It's sort of like watching your favorite ninja film when all of a sudden an ex-ninja turned clown enters the scene.  Things get heated and unusual.