RAILS INTO HELL

 

RAILS INTO HELL
A Faraday Novel: 6 
By Brent Towns 
Wolfpack Publishing, October 2025

The railroad’s arrival promised progress, but in Sagebrush Creek, it came riding on a tide of blood.

A surveyor lies dead, murdered to halt the iron rails’ advance. Matthew Faraday knows one man who can uncover the truth—former gunfighter Jack Quade. But Faraday’s reasons aren’t entirely about justice. Trouble’s brewing in the hills: a range war with Quade’s estranged father, Vince, at its heart.

Years ago, Vince Quade disavowed his son. Now Jack must face a father who wants nothing from him—least of all help. But with a killer on his trail and tensions ready to explode into open war, Jack has no choice but to fight on two fronts: mending a broken bond and stopping a murderer before Sagebrush Creek becomes a graveyard.

Will Jack Quade bring peace to a town on the brink—or will the railroad carry him straight into hell? 

I read the original six book Faraday series when they were first published at the end of the 1980’s. Wolfpack republished four of them, renumbered and in a slightly different order. Two brand new books have also been published carrying on with the number sequence from Wolfpack. All the Wolfpack books carry the authors real name on the cover whereas the original run saw them published under the pseudonym of William Grant. 

I’ve also read a number of westerns by Brent Towns, and like the original Faraday series, enjoyed them greatly.

Matthew Faraday is the head of the Faraday Security Service, a railroad detective agency. So far, each book features a different undercover agent and Faraday himself takes a background role. Brent Towns follows this premise perfectly and has created an engaging hero with a complicated past that will create additional problems for him to overcome. Some of the troubles he will face he knows about; others will take him by surprise. 

Each chapter is broken into a number of short scenes that follow different characters so I was left hanging on what each of them would do next and how it would affect others actions. The inclusion of some excellent twists and turns ensured I’d keep reading. The possibility of a range war merging with the mystery of who murdered the railroad surveyor was also a question I had. Were these two elements of the story connected in any way? 

The writing style is fluid, fast paced and gritty. If you like a lot of gunplay in your westerns then Towns’ will certainly keep you satisfied. Towns also springs some unexpected surprises on the reader too. 

All I can now hope is that Wolfpack Publishing decide to continue with this series and that Brent Towns gets to write another. 

American readers can get a copy here.

UK readers can get a copy here.