Wilbur, Bill.  SARAGOSA,  Publish America, Softcover, $16.95 - $19.95. 
177 pages  ISBN 1-4241-0298-7 

Most westerns tend to fall into one of two categories, either they are stories of gritty realism or tales of mythic heroism.  Bill Wilbur, author of Saragosa, manages to tread his own unique path that takes the reader to neither destination.  Yet he still manages to use the best devices of both forms and please the reader with a fine, balanced tale.
 Saragosa is about two brothers whose bitter, unresolved dispute has them separated by both distance and morality. The elder brother, Brody McNeel, the sheriff of Saragosa, is a fair, outspoken man who prefers to talk a man into surrender rather then shoot him. 
 Orin is an unjustly accused outlaw who has just escaped prison and is headed for Saragosa to convince his brother of his innocence.  But Orin is a taciturn man whose best arguments come from the barrel of his pistol. 
 In a time and place where firearms are sometimes the arbiter of such conflicts, even brothers cannot count on blood ties to keep them alive.
 Their first meeting ends with Orin in jail and the hostility between them deeper than ever.  But before their own conflict can explode into violence, the Santa Fe Ring, a band of influential and dangerous men, decide that Brody must die. 
 Now the two brothers are forced to fight together.  Their only allies are an old man well past his prime and a young deputy with more heart than experience.
 Even if you are not a fan of westerns, read this one.  It might well be the one that converts you. 

~ E. Ervin Tibbs
   Author of Sunset Tomorrow