Saturday 2 August 2008

The Trailsman #147

DEATH TRAILS
as by Jon Sharpe
Signet, March 1994

Skye Fargo was out to settle the score with a trio of bushwhackers who had bashed his head and stolen his roll. And he was in the pay of Rob Abbot, a rich businessman who wanted to get back his runaway daughter Dulcy at any cost. Skye knew the vicious brand of men he was hunting – but Dulcy was something else. Some called her an angel. Others called her a she-devil. And the only thing that the Trailsman could trust was his trigger finger in a crossfire where lies flew as thick as bullets and treachery was the name of the death game…

This is an unknown author behind the pseudonym of Jon Sharpe to me, but definitely one of the best. This writer knows how to grab the reader with his story of lies, double-cross and deceit as Fargo finds his every move anticipated and blocked by some ingenious misdirection as he attempts to track down the elusive Dulcy.

Even when Fargo does find Dulcy the author throws in more twists and turns that both Fargo and reader will have difficulty deciding which are truths and which are lies.

Add some encounters with bloodthirsty Mescaleros and brutal bandits and you have the recipe for a fast moving, action packed, intriguing read, that has a number of surprising revelations at the end.

Get a copy here.

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