.45-Caliber Fury

 by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, February 2005

Cuno Massey thought he had escaped a life behind the gun. He avenged the murder of his father and found peace in the arms of his new wife. Then his dark past found him, and stole the life of his young, expectant bride. Now Cuno realizes his fate – and, with his .45 in hand, he’s going to make certain the killers realize theirs. Because if there’s one thing Cuno has come to thirst for, it’s the bittersweet taste of revenge…

Ever since reading .45-Caliber Revenge I’ve been looking forward to reading this, the second book featuring Peter Brandvold’s young hero Cuno Massey. So does this book match up to my expectations after the excellence of the first book in this series?

The story begins with Cuno and his new, expectant bride, July, making ago of a small farmstead. But it’s not long before a group of bounty hunters arrive, eager for the reward on Massey, and the bullets fly and July dies.

This time I thought Peter Brandvold presented Massey as a colder, more deadly figure, a man who didn’t give a damn about anyone else, a man who only lives to kill his quarry. Even when the chase teams him up with a young woman who is also hunting the killers. They’ve stolen her map showing the location of hidden gold. Massey shows no interest in her or the gold.

Yet Brandvold does not strip Massey of all humanity by totally turning him into an unfeeling killing machine. Massey does not ignore the plight of others, will help them with deadly proficiency.

The violence is graphic and brutal and the characters are very well presented, the story gripping, building to its savage final showdown at a terrific pace.

So did the book match up to my expectations? More than so, in fact I thought this was even better than .45-Calibre Revenge.