Ransom

as by Owen G. Irons

A Black Horse Western from Hale, May 2010

Banker Amos Fillmore’s life is shattered by the brazen kidnapping of his pretty daughter, Anita. The kidnappers, led by the notorious gunman Earl Weathers, demand a ransom payment that can only be raised if Fillmore raids the assets of his Crater, Arizona bank. In the end, even that payment is not enough.

Duplicity and violence rage while Anita remains hostage in a cave carved deep into the hills of the desert wilderness. Her safety is secondary to avarice, and even those tasked with upholding justice are inept and overcome with greed.

It seems as though neither Anita nor her ransom will ever be recovered from the grip of the desert. That is until the territory’s top gun, Laredo, steps in….

This book starts after the kidnapping has taken place as Amos Fillmore helps himself to some of the banks money and the story never lets slows down after the opening scenes throw all kinds of questions at the reader. There are many well-drawn characters, none of who seem to trust each other, and indeed many are planning to double-cross each other. All these twists and turns making this book very difficult to put down before everything is resolved.

The action is well described as are descriptions of people and location. The pace of the tale moves from a trot to a canter to a gallop swiftly, grippingly, before the final dramatic shootout. But then I’d expect all this from Owen G. Irons (a pseudonym for author Paul Lederer) as I’ve yet to read a BHW from him I’ve not enjoyed.

Ransom has an official release date of May 31st but should be available now from the usual Internet sources. Fans of Paul Lederer’s work will also be pleased to know this isn’t the only BHW of his out this month as The Legacy, as by Logan Winters, is out now too.