Redemption: Hunters

By James Reasoner

Berkley, February 2012

Now that former Texas cowhand Bill Harvey has been appointed marshal of Redemption, Kansas, the troubled town has a hope of staying lawful. But in the untamed West, justice can come at a deadly cost…

When a group of buffalo hunters gets into a scuffle with a party of Indians, the end results are tragic – leaving all but one of the Indians dead. With the sole survivor on his way to rally the rest of his tribe for vengeance, the buffalo hunters hightail it to the closest settlement, putting Redemption in the middle of a war.

Now Bill has to figure out a way to keep the residents of Redemption safe as the Indian war party descends on the town. And with outlaws taking advantage of the chaos and attempting to rob the town bank, Bill will need all the help he can get to keep the peace and stay alive…

This is the second book in James Reasoner’s Redemption series and it proves to be as highly entertaining as the first one: Redemption, Kansas. Obviously, as with any series set in a town, many of the characters will have already been met by readers of the previous book, and here James gets to develop their personalities more, as well as adding new characters to the mix, such as Captain Stone and buffalo hunter Costigan.

The story moves from Redemption, Stone’s patrol, and the buffalo hunters effortlessly, as events unfold that will ultimately bring the Indian war party to the town. The demand from the Indians to leave the town alone makes for a difficult and almost impossible choice for Bill to make. A supreme act of courage could solve this problem and end the standoff but others want the attack to take place and move to make it happen…

James Reasoner creates a terrific air of tension as the town waits for the Indians to arrive. His pacing is excellent and his prose believable. Everything builds towards the final showdown, which provides a dramatic and exciting ending to the story, leaving me without hesitation in recommending this book.

Me? I just hope Berkley realize that in this writer and these books they have a first class series, and that they need to publish them more often, as nearly a year between books is far too long to wait for those of us eager to see what troubles befall the town of Redemption next.