The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, House of Anansi Press, 325 pages, $22.95.
It isn't easy to bring anything fresh to a genre as old as the western but Patrick deWitt has done just that with this brilliant new book.
Charlie and Eli Sisters are killers for hire working for the Commodore. They have been given the task of locating Hermann Kermit Warm, a man who supposedly has stolen something from their boss. So they saddle up, Charlie on his sure-footed horse named Nimble, and Eli lands his over-sized body into the saddle of his horse, Tub. Like his passenger, Tub is not the quickest or sharpest but he is determined.
The journey to California is filled with misadventures, some of them comic and some chilling. Both Eli and Tub will need some medical care while Charlie's health is dragged down by his own love of alcohol. DeWitt presents the brothers as both comic and tragic figures, connecting us to them while at the same time never letting us forget what they are. Even when they are bickering, there is no doubt that their shared experiences has created an unbreakable bond between the brothers and that they will kill anyone who comes against either of them.
The moral dilemma that has been building in Eli throughout the story finally must be addressed when they find Warm, the elusive prospector.
