Sunday 6 December 2009

The Branded Man

as by J.D. Ryder
A Black Horse Western from Hale, December 2009

Cordy Lowell lost more than his youth and his horse when they branded him, but the red-hot branding iron did more than just scar his chest, it forged a strong thirst for revenge.

Taking sides in a range war, Cordy found himself fighting on the side of a wheelchair-bound ranch owner against Bosewell, a greedy man who wasn’t satisfied with owning most of the basin, getting rich from his cattle and horse breeding operation. It wasn’t long before the fight became personal and Cordy had a chance to find retribution. If he lived long enough…

This is J.D. Ryder’s third Black Horse Western and once more he presents the reader with a very fast moving story – lengthy time periods passing within a couple of paragraphs help create the impression of days passing quickly. The plot is fairly straightforward and it does turn out pretty much as you’d expect, but it is a great read getting there.

Cordy Lowell comes up against some well crafted bad guys, such as Bosewell, Price and No-nose; the latter being an Indian who likes nothing better than pressing a red-hot branding iron onto human flesh.

J.D. Ryder combines a typical range war story with a tale of revenge, which is also a quest to retrieve a stolen horse. Ryder’s writing style makes for an effortless read and the book can easily be read within a couple of hours.

Checking the copyright page reveals that J.D. Ryder is a pseudonym used by William Sheehy.

The Branded Man has an official release date of December 31st and is available for pre-order from the usual Internet sources.

2 comments:

Jo Walpole said...

I like the cover of this. It's very eye catching.

Unknown said...

Bill Sheehy is also Carlton Youngblood, I believe. And yes, that is a good BHW cover, well put together.