It is necessary to know this book. Cornish McManus has just started his own gunsmithing career. For the next year, he works on an immensely accurate or “Sweet†rifle, working through the night, taking extra care to make the rifle beautiful, making sure there were no flaws. Here Paulsen demonstrates his talent for description of details, focusing on Cornish’s care for the rifle, making such a statement in so very few pages. Soon after the rifle is finished, Cornish decides to sell the rifle in order to raise money for his fiancé before starting a family and thus, it comes into Legend to be John Byam’s hands. When he dies, the rifle is put into an attic and lost for years, and when it is found, will it have a fatal impact on one modern boy? This book is a must read. Paulsen has passed the test of literature for youth with flying colors! His knack for detail is demonstrated by the fact that it is not too wordy, does not bore you and forces you to keep reading, and he fit it all into 105 pages only! If you have a love for reading, and a background knowledge of war and weapons, this is the book for you! The constant atmosphere of death and despair makes it the Lemony Snicket of its time. You will never find a moment of content or pure happiness within its dark and gloomy contents. And yet, that is what draws us, compels us, to read. To see the issues of our fellow man and the despairs of mortal life as we know it, being a pointless existence in the ever expanding reaches of deep space. You won’t want to stop! Here’s to you Gary, on a job well done!