Some books should probably never be written and in my opinion, this is one of them. The storyline is so plodding and boring as to cause the reader to fall asleep. Dead Broke the fictional town is really just as deadening and boring. Finding a hunk of silver and then a chunk of zinc is just not interesting and neither is the town mayor called Nugget!!

The town marshal, Duncan “Mick” MacMicking, is supposed to be a likeable character but this reader finds him oafish and almost a clown. He seems to be a good gunfighter but there is little use of such a character in this novel. He does show some perseverance by not shooting young men looking to make a name for themselves without any though of the danger to themselves! Whether the storyline is basic and about the drying up western town that gets new life, a "fake" wild western show starring Buffalo Bill Cody, or a jaunt to Chicago --there is too little to hold the reader's attention, at least for this reader.

The read was ponderous and dull; so totally unlike most other of the Johnstone syndicate works. Perhaps a new ghost writer or even an AI given how it flows might have been used?

Would not suggest a reading for "Painting the Town Red" unless some somnambulistic help is needed for a nap!!