Enjoyable

Another day, another Audible book, another enjoyable Western novel of payback and justice.

We have two separate story strands of lawmen tracking outlaws. One of the pursuits is very personal in that David Crockett Hall’s sister, niece and brother-in-law have been slain on their ranch. His niece and sister have endured vile rapes before death. His sister survived long enough to impart sketchy details on the nine men who attacked her. Hall sees to their burial then sets off after the men, with murder in his heart.

A fair bit later in the narrative we come across a Texas Ranger. He’s on a pursuit of his own, to try and plant the men responsible for the death of a politician’s family member in the ground. It’s a job and a matter of pride as opposed to any personal loss he has suffered.

I like the setting of post-Civil War, the hardship of life in the old west, the distances between town and town, the brutality of the climate and the ruggedness of the terrain. There is a bit of a hangover from the War and some bitterness from those on the losing side, but also a respect between some of the veterans we encounter who fought on opposing sides. We are also coming in to the age of the railways.

There’s law and order and justice, but not as we know it today. There are predators that are comfortable preying on the weak and exerting their will forcibly without recourse to conscience. Justice when it catches up with them is somewhat delayed but also instant and usually final.

I liked the main characters, Hall more than Armstrong. I enjoyed the fact that the authorities tried to stop former from his course of action, but he wasn’t having any of it. Eventually, the two cross paths and work together to bring the last of the outlaws to heel. Hall even has a new reason for taking some enjoyment out of life.

Enjoyable narration as always from Theo Holland. I also liked the notes from both the authors, commenting on the origins of the story and how it came to pass.

3.5 from 5

Read – (listened to) July, 2022
Published – 2018
Page count – 149 (3 hrs 28 mins)
Source – Audible purchase
Format - Audible

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