THE VENOM OF IRON EYES

By Rory Black

Hale, March 2012

The notorious gang led by Peg-Leg Grimes is headed to the remote and peaceful town of Cooperville to rob the bank of its recently obtained horde of golden eagles. On the way there one of the gang, Laredo Cole, slaughters a village of innocent Mexicans.

Unknown to the gang the bounty hunter, Iron Eyes, is in town with Squirrel Sally to collect the reward on a gang of outlaws. When the bank explodes into matchwood Iron Eyes vows to get the money, and the outlaws, for Grimes has made one mistake, he has stolen Iron Eyes’ prized Palamino stallion to make his escape….

Rory Black opens this book with a very visual scene of a stagecoach arriving in Cooperville, a stagecoach filled with the dead and being driven by a skeletal man, and this terrific beginning sets the mood superbly for the story. A tale filled with horror and death.

This book is the sixteenth tale in the Iron Eyes series and follows on from events in the previous story, although you don’t need to have read The Skull of Iron Eyes to enjoy this one. Iron Eyes teamed up with Squirrel Sally in the last book and bringing the stagecoach of dead to Cooperville is the task they set out to do at its conclusion.

Iron Eyes is a brutally efficient killing machine who stops at nothing to track down his quarry whom he usually dispatches with a cold emotionless savagery. So imagine my surprise when Iron Eyes allows that hard exterior to crack and is moved to tears whilst cradling a dying baby. Maybe, just maybe Iron Eyes is human after all.

Rory Black is a pseudonym used by Michael D. George for his Iron Eyes books, a series that has a huge following. If you’ve not read one before then this could be a good starting point as it has a great mix of savage action, superbly drawn characters, and touches of humour as Iron Eyes attempts to escape the attentions of Squirrel Sally, and I for one will be eagerly looking forward to the next book to see if he has finally managed to achieve this.

The Venom of Iron Eyes has an official release date of March 30th but is available now from the usual Internet bookstores.