Thursday 28 April 2011

The Secret of Devil's Canyon


By I.J. Parnham
A Black Horse Western from Hale, April 2011

When Mayor Maxwell and his daughter are brutally murdered, feelings in Bear Creek run high. Even when the killer is caught and sentenced to life in prison, the townsfolk demand a lynching. So sheriff Bryce calls in Nathaniel McBain to spirit the killer away through Devil’s Canyon to Beaver Ridge jail.

At first, Nathaniel manages to stay one step ahead of the pursuing mob; but as he loses ground, he realizes he faces an even bigger problem: his prisoner may be innocent after all….

A dark secret about what really happened is buried in Devil’s Canyon. Will Nathaniel be able to uncover the truth before the mob reaches him?

I.J. Parnham presents the reader with a book that starts off like a straight-forward storyline but with the introduction of more and more characters, such as the bone-hunter Jim Dragon and his enemy Pierre Dulaine, and Emily Chambers who is searching for her missing father, all of whom seem to be involved in different threads to the story, it isn’t long before the plot throws up twist after twist that makes this book impossible to put down until the reader discovers how everything is resolved.

It’s the plots twists and turns that make I.J. Parnham’s books so appealing to me. Every time I think I know what is going on, what will happen next, Ian throws in another twist to completely throw me off track. Descriptions are kept to a minimum, just enough to allow the reader to visualise what the people, landscapes, and towns look like. Ian tells his story’s at a fast pace, uses believable dialogue, and ties everything up neatly by the end.

The Secret of Devil’s Canyon is a very entertaining read that, once more, leaves me looking forward to his next BHW. This book is available now from the usual Internet sources. 

2 comments:

Ray said...

Sorry about that - but it goes to show that Ian entertains.

I.J. Parnham said...

Reviews are like buses, then. You wait six months and then two come along at once!

Thanks, Steve.