Monday 25 October 2010

Echoes of a Dead Man


as by Terry James
A Black Horse Western from Hale, October 2010

When gambler and gunman Matt Lomew arrives in Garner to recuperate from a near-fatal shooting, he isn’t looking for trouble. But when his childhood friend Jessie Manners is kidnapped, Matt is forced into an uneasy alliance with the brother of a man he once killed. He knows that such a partnership can only spell trouble but he has nowhere else to turn.

As Matt races to Jessie’s rescue, he knows a showdown is inevitable, but he is soon to find out that he is not the only one being haunted by the echoes of a dead man….

Right from the beginning Terry James hooks the reader with unanswered questions, and continues to do so as the story progresses. Each well-drawn character seeming to have more secrets that the reader will want to find out more about, for instance what are the motives behind their actions? What their past relationships have been with the other main characters?

The book is packed with incident and action, all told in a beautifully paced easy to read style that makes this book difficult to put down before the end is reached. Before you get there you’ll have been surprised by what happens to one or two of the main characters and by the discovery of who they actually are.

Echoes of a Dead Man is the second BHW from Terry James – really author Joanne Walpole – and this, like her first book, makes me wish her books appeared a little more frequently. Jo’s third, Ghosts of Bluewater Creek will be available sometime in 2011.

If you want a copy of this book you’ll have to be quick as it’s selling out fast – Amazon UK has only one copy left at the time of posting this review – even though it’s not officially released until the end of the month. The book can also be bought direct from Hale or other Internet booksellers.

4 comments:

Jo Walpole said...

Thank you, Steve. :-)

Laurie Powers said...

I'm reading this right now and lovin' it.

Oscar Case said...

BN is supposed to notify me when this becomes available, but so far, no luck.

Steve M said...

As I said at the end of the review, the book isn't officially released until the end of the month. Hale don't list it as available to buy through them yet. Some stores such as Amazon UK and the Book Depository always seem to get them early and sell them early so if you want the book faster then you should consider buying through them (Book Depository has free postage anywhere in the world and a direct link can be found on this blog).