Saturday 26 July 2008

The Trailsman #314

NORTH COUNTRY CUTTHROATS
as by Jon Sharpe
Signet, December 2007

Skye Fargo is hired to ride shotgun alongside his old friend, the aptly named Grizzly Olaffson. But the Christmas holiday haul across the snow heats up quick, with hold-up men on the trail, lustful lowlifes off the trail and the crazy Grizzly causing more trouble the Fargo can bear. All that’s left is for the Trailsman to decide who’s naughty, who’s nice…and who’s dead.

The author – Peter Brandvold – fills the stagecoach with a number of different types of characters, all of which will have some part to play in the story as Fargo and Olaffson struggle against outlaws and the weather to get the coach to it’s destination.

The book moves along at a very fast pace and has many comic moments mixed in with the violent action sequences, the destruction of the ski shod coach making for some very tense, and visual, reading.

Whether Peter Brandvold knew that this would be the December publication before he wrote it, or it was pure coincidence, having a book come out at this time that is set at Christmas, was a nice touch.

Once again another strong book that proves why the Trailsman series is one of the best around today.

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