Sometimes it’s perfectly fine to be able to predict – from very early on – how a story is going to turn out; and maybe it’s easier to do that when you’re convinced the ending will be a ‘happy’ one.
Benjamin Myers’ Rare Singles fits that bill: you can easily guess what’s going to happen to ‘Bucky’ Bronco, and that’s just fine. Perhaps the main reason you do so is that you’re rooting for him – and for Dinah his Scarborough guide, desperate for her to leave her drink-sodden git of a husband.
Isn’t it great when the ‘nice guys’ win?
Not all Myers’ work is so ‘amenable’; The Gallows Pole, for example, is entirely different gravy. Worth reading though….
Ian Gouge - Writer 