Hood

By Jake Douglas

Hale, August 2014

When they find him he doesn’t even know his own name – or where he is, or how he got there. He sure doesn’t know who shot him in the head and left him in the badlands to die.

So he does the only thing a man like him can do: strap on his guns and get back in the saddle. He hunts and trains, working to improve his strength before time runs out and he is left with no land, and no future. But perhaps that is part of the plan all along, and perhaps someone is hoping his run of luck is coming to an end….

Opening the book with the discovery of a man who doesn’t recall anything about his past allows Jake Douglas to throw all kinds of questions at the reader ensuring they will become easily hooked by this tale of mystery and…..well you didn’t really think I’d reveal the plot here did you?

Hood makes for an engaging lead character, a tough man who soon finds himself dealing with all kinds of problems as well as trying to discover who shot him and why. He is helped by Doc Hammond who is experimenting with new types of medicine. Then there’s the sheriff who seems to want nothing more than to lock Hood up. And what part will Stevens and his sister play? They thought Hood was dead and have moved into his home. Just when answers seem to be on the verge of being revealed in rides a US Marshal to further complicate matters.

Jake Douglas keeps the story moving forward at a tremendous pace, throwing plenty of twists and turns into the tale. Violence erupts regularly and there’s a tremendous, frantic, final showdown. Douglas also includes some laugh out-loud moments of humour and took me completely by surprise by killing off someone I thought would survive.

Jake Douglas is a pseudonym used by Keith Hetherington, one of my favourite western authors, and this book proves once again why I enjoy his work so much.

For some reason I can't get Amazon UK links to work so please use the search box to the right if you'd like to buy a copy in the UK.