Pay Dirt

By Lee Walker

Hale, January 2012

Jim Payne, Sheriff of Cedar Springs, thinks nothing of it when he is asked by his Ma to deliver a letter to his estranged brother, Michael. However the trail leads him to Golden Gulch, a dangerous Californian boomtown, high on gold fever and in the tight grip of the ruthless conman, Coleridge Craven, and his henchman, Kid Cassidy.

When Jim hands over the letter, he thinks his job is done but it seems Golden Gulch just doesn’t want to let him go. An old family feud, a miner’s revolt and the murderous intentions of Craven and the Kid are just some of the trials he faces if he ever wants to leave Golden Gulch alive….

At last Lee Walker’s second BHW has appeared. After reading his first, Gun Law, I was looking forward to this one.

The book starts with a horrific prologue, which explains the animosity between brothers Jim and Michael Payne. The story then jumps forward a number of years and the reader joins Jim as he arrives in Golden Gulch. It isn’t long before he finds himself confronting Craven and becomes a target for the conman’s hired guns.

Lee Walker has come up with a great bunch of characters that are a pleasure to read about. The story moves forward quickly and is filled with well-written action scenes that paint vivid images within the mind. The final blazing showdown takes up a good portion of the book and provides an exciting conclusion to the story.

Lee Walker is a pseudonym used by Ed Ferguson, and he writes in an easy to read style that defies you to put the book down before the end. 

Once more, like after finishing Gun Law, I’m left looking forward to the third western from Lee Walker.

Pay Dirt is officially released on January 30th but is available now from the usual Internet bookstores.