Book Review: Bad Medicine by Paul Bagdon

Westerns have been my favourite genre ever since an uncle introduced me to Oliver Strange’s Sudden series in my teens. I read all ten novels by Strange, as well as another five by Frederick H. Christian—one of many pen names of the late Frederick William Nolan—who did a fine job of bringing the eponymous gunfighter back to life.

Since then, I have read Westerns every year, though not as many over the past couple of decades as my attention shifted to other writers and genres. Even so, I’m always looking for Western fiction. I was therefore delighted to come across a new author, Paul Bagdon, who appears to have written around fifteen series and standalone novels, though there may well be more. I also read online that Bagdon has published more than 250 stories and articles in several magazines.

Bad Medicine, likely Bagdon’s seventh standalone Western novel, begins with Will Lewis walking out of Folsom Prison in California and heading to West Texas in the hope of starting a new life on his brother Hiram’s cattle ranch. But Will’s plans are soon shattered when he learns that his brother, sister-in-law and their two young daughters have been brutally killed by a gang led by a bloodthirsty outlaw named One Dog.

Although Will hasn’t seen Hiram in a long time, it’s clear the brothers were once close. Will is filled with remorse on one hand and thoughts of revenge on the other. After a brief visit to Hiram’s burnt-down ranch, he sets out to track down One Dog and make him and his band of rampaging murderers pay.

Bad Medicine relies on a familiar theme—outlaws, gunfights, revenge and violence, the latter often over the top. From that point of view, the novel offers plenty of action and coarse dialogue as Will sets out on his manhunt with help from unexpected quarters. Along the way, through small towns and open stretches of land across Texas, he makes friends and loses them.

Like most Western heroes, Will Lewis is human. He makes bad calls and gets into trouble, but he is also a decent and honourable man who is good to those who treat him well. He is deeply attached to his horse, Slick, an Appaloosa stud, which reveals his human side amid all the violence. Bagdon also handles both hero and villain well. While Will’s character runs through the length of the story, One Dog is heard more than seen, his fearsome reputation preceding him until the final confrontation.

Paul Bagdon’s writing style is clean and simple, with no elaborate descriptions—exactly the kind of Western fiction I enjoy reading. It’s well worth a weekend read.