Review - Cattle King for a Day

Cattle King for a Day
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Michael Yurchak, Corey Burton, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, PhilProcter and
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: September 21, 2010
ISBN: 978-1592123650
Running Time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Buy Link: Audiobook, Paperback

Review:

Step back in time with the Stories from the Golden Age series, featuring classic tales of adventure, mystery and thrill rides from the 1930s and 1940s, all written by the late author L. Ron Hubbard. Galaxy Press is releasing all over Hubbard's short stories (over 150 tales) to paperback and audiobooks.

Originally published in the March 1937 issue of All Western Magazine is the exciting western Cattle King for a Day. This tale centers on the cowboy Chinook Shannon, who heads out for Arizona after learning of his grandfather's sudden death. He plans on running his grandfather's cattle ranch Slash S, which he inherited upon his grandfather's death, but he is in for a huge surprise when he learns that the ranch has less than 24 hours before it is foreclosed. To make matters worse, all the cattle on the land have died. To get the answers of who or whom has put his grandfather's ranch in jeopardy, Chinook heads into town, but there are three road agents blocking his path. With time running out, Chinook is in a race against time to find his grandfather's murderer and save the Slash S cattle ranch.

For an added bonus, there is one additional western tale, titled Come And Get It, which first appeared in the October 1938 issue of All Western Magazine. The story centers on Bill Norton stepping off of the train at Wolf Junction, Wyoming and is excited to take over the Bar N, which was left to him by his late father, whom was supposedly killed by a wild horse, but Bill is shocked to learn that the bank left Red Mike Doherty as the trustee of the ranch. With nowhere else to go, Bill settles as second cook at the ranch, biding his time until he can find out who is really responsible for his father's death.

While a "son inheriting a ranch" has been done to death in the western genre, the two tales featured on the audiobook are cleverly written with a outstanding voice-cast and matching sound effects; and avoids all the typical cliched western hiccups. Overall, both stories in Cattle King for a Day audiobook are fast-paced and exciting, with twists & turns around every corner.

*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.