Crimson City

had only a single dusty street that branched off at one point into a single dusty crossroads. A church, a laundry, a post office, a general store, a bank, a hotel, a saloon. Everything had a rundown, filthy appearance, bleached by the sun, as if the surrounding desert were trying to swallow the town one bite at a time, (...) as if into the space of twenty houses and three streets they had crammed an assortment of wreckage and remnants of a real city, one with a plan, an intention, a future. Roy had arrived a few years ago.

He's a good kid,

the sheriff said hastily.

Just think: he stepped off the train all by himself eight years ago, and he’s been here ever since. (...) He works hard, never a complaint. He’s become one of our own. One day, two people arrived from the desert: a man, whom everyone took to be the famous Sheriff Pickett, and a half-breed girl, who introduced herself as his sister. Piper

was so swaggering, tough, sleek, with two pistols strapped to her thighs, slender bones, spring-loaded muscles, and a devilish glint shining in her eyes. They had received a letter from the sole survivor of the Gordon brothers' outlaw gang—men cut down by Sheriff Pickett, evidently all except one, who was now seeking vengeance in a duel, right in this miniature town. While the townsfolk, trembling yet thrilled, awaited the killer's arrival, love blossomed between Roy and Piper: the boy seemed timid and apprehensive before the brazen, weapon-savvy gunslinger; Piper began to be drawn to Roy’s gentleness and naivety, apparently fragile and defenseless. Are we facing the classic tale of a romantic boy who falls for a mysterious, strange, and stunning girl waiting to be rescued by a knight? Will Roy realize that passion alone is not enough to save his beloved? Much like what occurs in Fabio Geda and Marco Mugnone’s Il lato oscuro della Luna (see the review of the novel on this site). Then, suddenly, we discover that Roy is far different from who we believed him to be. The boy is the sole survivor of the Gordon brothers, and he has come to Crimson City to slaughter those who destroyed his family: Sheriff Pickett and his daughter. Will love prove stronger than vengeance, or will Roy press on toward his goal, seeking Piper’s life as well? I leave it to the readers to choose their preference. For my part, I would have welcomed an ending akin to Il Corsaro Nero, who fell in love with his enemy's daughter yet pursued his revenge, abandoning his beloved in a boat adrift at sea.

Amid the moans of the wind and the roar of the waves, muffled sobs could be heard at intervals... Look up there! The Black Corsair is weeping!

(you can read the review of Emilio Salgari’s novel on this site). Are we certain Roy came to Crimson City merely for revenge, or did he harbor other motives?

The plot is well-constructed. In the first part, the premise of a miniature town cut off from everything—where the sole link to the civilized world is a train passing every two weeks—is compelling: an insular community governed by its own dynamics, waiting for unlikely change. Still, the narrative proves somewhat tedious and flat. Then comes an unexpected twist, and the novella turns into a suspense-laden thriller. Perhaps the resolution should have been less cloying; instead, it lapses into a Hollywood-style "happily ever after."

The prose is very simple, perhaps overly so, even for a novel aimed at young adults; the narrative framework relies predominantly on dialogue and action, to the detriment of vivid descriptions and nuanced psychological depth, leaving the characters' choices and motives rather thinly drawn.

Why read it? It becomes genuinely gripping after a sluggish start.

The Great Heist of Crimson City