Books: New Novels

Last month marked a high point in the spring book season, saw 106 new novels published. Of varied merit, the following four ranked above most:

JUBAL TROOP—Paul I. Wellman—Carrick & Evans ($2.75). A first novel, this has two distinctions: 1) Author Wellman, newspaperman and ex-cowboy, is a Western historian, author of an excellent study of Indian war, Death in the Desert; 2) his Jubal Troop makes a fortune instead of leading a romantic life among scenes of gun play, escape, cattle rustling, prospecting, big-time gambling. Author Wellman's gratuitous moral: Jubal Troop's money-grabbing did not pay.

THE HEROES—Millen Brand—Simon & Schuster ($2). Two years...