Bloodletter

Gunman. Surgeon. In the Old West, both were called "Bloodletter," as is Jesse Bowman, an ex-gunhand returned to Colorado as a doctor. Will he choose healing...or gunslinging? He doesn't know. He must face his past - the rival who humiliated him - and a possible future: Jennifer Gensfeld-Smythe, who is searching for her former fiancé...himself no slouch with a pistol.
There are also other "fast guns" to contend with: the sadistic Yallo Zelnick, the man with the yellow bandanna; and Joshua .44-40, an amoral fifteen-year-old retarded dwarf, the kid with snake speed.
The Bloodletter is a rare blend of superb prose, fast action, raw Western humor, and rich historical detail.