First Blood was originally written in 1954 and is only 126 pages in length.  My attention span seems to be shortening – and I appear to be going back in time!
  Jack Schaeffer is best known, of course, for having written Shane; and to a lesser extent, for having written Monte Walsh (which in my opinion is much better, and appears in my list of favourite twelve books).  But First Blood is also beautifully written.  It is a little gem, and even if you don’t normally read Westerns, you won’t go far wrong by giving this book a try.
  Here’s what it says in the cover blurb:

 Race Krim was young Jess Harker’s idol – tough and fast with a gun.  Jess’s great day came when he drove the stage out of town, with Race riding shotgun over a load of gold bullion.  But the events of that stage-ride were to lead Jess, Race and lawman Tom Davisson on a trail of violence, muder and tradegy.  And Jess is forced to make the toughest decision of his young life. 

Well, that about sums it up, yes sirree.  The entire story only spans a few days, but Schaeffer expertly weaves together plot, action and character into a miniature classic of the Western genre.