No More Worthy

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

Set in and around Penticton and Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley of
territorial British Columbia, No More Worthy tells the tale of Canadian
outlaw Boyd James, a possible descendant of the James Gang, who escaped
custody in 1912. While on the run, James hooks up with some colorful
characters: Frank Wilson; Wilson’s fellow traveler, the enigmatic
“Professor”; and a redheaded woman who rides a motorcycle and
delivers the mail. After being caught and returned to prison, Boyd
skirmishes with a guard and accidentally shoots the man, setting off a
series of events that culminate in a trial and execution.

Chalmers is good with characters and local color. His stylistic prose
is at once evocative and precise: “The sun was still lying just below
the horizon, but the sky was already bright. Shards of cloud drifted
harmlessly, purged white against a solid blue sky. The earth and
everything on it was drifting as if it had just been rolled up out of
the depths of the lake.” Further, there is a sparseness to his novel,
a sharpness informing the dialogue and description reminiscent of the
work of Zane Grey.

No More Worthy is highly recommended for public libraries.