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Book Review: Return of the Long Riders by Cliff Farrell

Del Kitteridge returns to Combabi country after a long spell with a terrible message to be relayed to the wealthy Camden family. The message is: Walsh Camden, the head of the family, is taken as a prisoner by the famous Mexican bandit Torreon. Walsh Camden had gone to sell horses in Mexico but in a pursuit of avarice and better price he happened to visit Torreon’s bitter enemy. This move angers Torreon and as a result Walsh lands up being his captive in a dungeon.


Rumours had it that Dave Kitteridge and Walsh Camden had a gruesome quarrel. And soon, Dave Kitteridge was murdered, his ranch burnt and plundered. His son Del Kitteridge runs away only to become a long rider like him. The suspicion falls on Walsh Camden. The Camden family dislikes Del but has no option to trust him. Del takes a fight with Quinn Camden and augments the enmity him. However to his rescue comes Rezin, a hidden long rider but works as a coppersmith in Combabi country. Also, Quinn and Cullen Camden show no interest in getting back their father from the grip of the Mexican bandit. On the behest of Harriet and Kay Camden, Del proposes a plan to relieve Walsh but at the cost of half of the horses’ selling price. The ladies agree to his plan. However, one night Del is haunted by a gunner and he assumes Quinn is the man who murdered his father and now chasing him to finish all the chapters.   

Del arranges for the long riders hidden in Combabi. When Del heads for the Mexican land, some of the Camden family members (Quinn, Cullen and Kay) follow and join him. They take the river route, with some struggle caused by the rain, they manage to enter Mexico. During the journey Kay Camden tells Del about the family vendetta and the real culprit behind it is the head lady Harriet Camden, who once loved his father but when she was turned down for the marriage proposal, she becomes grudgingly against the Kitteridge family.

Del saves Amata and her child from a dark hut which was under the vigilance of Torreon’s men. While saving them, he encounters Marcos, one of the most treacherous men from Torreon’s gang. Del avenges the death of Amata’s husband by killing Marcos.

Del and his team fight hard against Torreon’s men and after killing him they return to their hideout place with Walsh Camden alive. Del is flabbergasted to discover that his father was murdered by Thane Overmile, a town marshal, not by Quinn or his father Walsh. Thane Overmile runs away with an intention of never returning to Combabi. 

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