Sunset Wins: A Western Trio

When Happy Jack in ‘The Gift’ learns that Sandy Crisp was behind the killing of his pal Jackson, a married man and father of three, he hunts him down. Feeling fear for the first time, Crisp is struck by the physical similarity between Happy Jack and Johnny Neilan, the son of his nearest neighbors. Although Johnny had died in a log jam twelve years ago, his bitter and rich parents still believe he is alive and await his return. Crisp proposes Happy Jack pose as the Neilans’ son, rob their safe, and give his share of the money to Jackson’s widow. Reluctantly, Happy Jack agrees, but he is not prepared for what he encounters on this Christmas Eve.

Jim Orchard, the hero of ‘Jerico’s Garrison Finish,’ suffers from ‘reckless generosity’ which keeps getting in the way of his saving the $5,000 he needs before he can marry Sue Hampton, who fears that he is an easy mark who will never put the needs of a family first. When he hears that Garry Munn has been visiting Sue, he becomes worried and desperate that his time is running out. Orchard sees his only chance of getting his $5,000 stake is to ride Jerico, a killer horse, in the upcoming race in the rodeo.

In ‘Sunset Wins,’ Gordon MacDonald is a throwback to his ancestors, big and brutal, a man who ‘looked like a lion’ and ‘thought like a fox’ and ‘fought like ten devils, shoulder to shoulder.’ No prison in the world could hold him, though they had tried. Eventually he makes his way to Texas, where he wanders for ten years, until his heart settles on something he must have - a horse named Sunset.