Publisher's Weekly
This is a western for grown-ups, written in a lean, hardboiled style that should appeal to readers who ''don't read westerns.'' In the waning years of the frontier, in an unnamed territory, bounty-hunter Guild celebrates a joyless 54th birthday in a brothel. Guild is acting as bodyguard for Merle Rig, a very unpleasant man who is soon murdered, along with a teenager whom Guild had reluctantly hired as an assistant. Suspicion points to Kriker, a notoriously violent mountain man, bank robber and leader of a secluded settlement of former low-lifes. The laconic Guild, carrying his own personal guilt about a dead child, sets out to bring Kriker to justice, accompanied by the nasty Bruckner brothers, sheriff's deputies. Kriker, meanwhile, is nursing his adoptive daughter, using a ''granny woman's'' folk medicine that is useless against what turns out to be cholera. Gorman ( Guild and the Jack Dwyer mysteries) uses the period setting effectively and draws his characters with a deft hand.

Library Journal
IBS, for the uninitiated, means irritable bowel syndrome, which accounts for stomach-intestinal problems of more than 20 million Americans. It's called many thingschronic colitis, spastic colon, and nervous stomach, to name a few, but it amounts to the same thinga condition that can cause symptoms ranging from frequent discomfort to severe pain. Written with wit and insight into people's feelings, the book is aimed at helping those who live with IBS. The book deals with what sets off an attack, how to recognize the stressors that can aggravate the condition, and how to treat and live with IBS. Valuable, concrete suggestions on changes in diet and lifestyle elevate the book's worth. Carol Spielman Lezak, General Learning Corp., Northbrook, Ill.