Hunt Down Harry Tracy

By W. R. Garwood

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This is a story based on the life of Harry Severns, aka Harry Tracy, a notorious outlaw who lived at the turn of the 20th century. Harry spends most of his young life on the run from the law or hiding from other outlaws. He escapes from prison in California with the help of his girlfriend, and then he and a fellow convict lead the law on a merry chase across the Pacific Northwest.

The story plods along from one boring event in Harry Tracy’s life to another. I couldn’t feel anything for the protagonist or the minor characters; as a matter of fact, I hoped Tracy would get caught and just stay in jail. Although I thought the story would get interesting when Harry Tracy met up with the Hole-In-the-Wall gang, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I was disappointed by both the characterizations and the storyline.

The author’s style is better suited to nonfiction; it was similar to reading a newspaper account of Harry Tracy’s exploits with occasional dialog thrown in. If you enjoy reading westerns as I do, you may be equally let down by Garwood’s style.