The Avengers of San Pedro

 by Edwin Derek

A Black Horse Western from Hale, December 2008

Renegades raid San Pedro, a small Mexican settlement near one of the largest ranches in Texas, massacring most of its inhabitants. Seeking to avenge the massacre, Brad Miller pursues the renegades across the Texas border into New Mexico. But a dreadful storm forces him to seek shelter in a small isolated ranch owned by Jane Latham.

Brad soon discovers she is caught in the middle of a feud between the Bar Zero ranch and the Blackwash Silver Mine. By helping Jane, Brad is caught up in the feud, but finds the renegades are also involved.

As a range war breaks out, Brad is forced to enlist the aid of a deadly gunman also pursuing the renegades. Together, they must bring justice to New Mexico, where the only law is the six-gun.

After only a few pages the author hooks the reader with many questions, and it isn’t long before he’s hinting at hidden pasts of many of his leading characters that may have some effect on the outcome of this fast moving story. In fact I found this book difficult to put down until I’d discovered the answers to just why everyone was interested in owning the Little U ranch.

There’s plenty of action and the author manages to include a motley collection of characters; renegades, miners, cowboys, lawmen – both straight and crooked, Texas Rangers, and Apaches.

One other thing began to intrigue me and that was how much emphasis was placed on the type and range of the various pistols and rifles used by both the good and the bad. And, yes, this does play an important part in the outcome of the story.

Having read quite a few Black Horse Westerns I was a little surprised at the number of typos I came across, missing words and extra letters. These little oversights didn’t interrupt the flow of the story or spoil my enjoyment of the book.

If you’re interested in buying a copy of this book I suggest you put your order in now as Black Horse Westerns tend to sell out very fast these days. This book should be available from most internet book sellers and from Hale themselves. The book has a publication date of December 31st 2008.