Blackstone, Wyoming, belongs to “King” Charles Hagan. The rancher bought land, built businesses, and employed most of the townsfolk. Unfortunately, Sheriff Buck Trammel is not on His Majesty’s payroll. The lawdog won’t be tamed or trained to accept the king’s position as master of the territory, but neither will he threaten his empire.
Adam Hagan, the king’s second in command, is vying to take control of his father’s violent empire in Blackstone. Sidling up with the notorious criminal Lucien Clay, Adam is adding professional hired guns who perform his dirty deeds without question. But moving against his father means crossing paths with his former friend Buck – the man who once saved Adam’s life.
A civil war is coming to Blackstone. And when the gunsmoke clears, Buck Trammel is determined to be the last man standing . . .
This is a series that you may prefer to read in order as many storylines continue from book to book. Having said that, each book does have its own specific plot that will be resolved even though this may give birth to new story threads that will entwine with series running plots and carry on in the next book.
Whereas some westerns read like one long gun battle from beginning to end, the Buck Trammel series doesn’t. These books revolve around complicated powerplays as most of the main characters attempt to wipe each other out by destroying each other’s businesses in any way they can so they can take control of them themselves. These twisting power struggles offer surprise after surprise and often have unexpected outcomes. All this makes for gripping reading. Of course, there is gunplay, and murder, all of which leads to an excellent showdown at the end that sees a lot of lead slung and many bodies littering the streets of Blackstone.
Trammel tries his best to keep a lid on things whilst wrestling with affairs of the heart as the two women in his life respond in different ways to him – to say more about this would give away too much of the plot. The author piles on problem after problem for the lawman to deal with. Strained relationships reach breaking point. There is also a surprising death, the aftermath of which sets up the violent ending to the tale.
Like the two books before it, The Intruders turned out to be an enthralling read and the end left me very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
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