The Devil's Marshal

MORGAN KANE #11:

By Louis Masterson

WR Films Entertainment Group, Inc.

eBook, May 2012

Morgan Kane gunned down a bandit in New York, generating a lot of headlines. Kane didn’t like New York. He was wondering how much longer he could stand city life when a telegram arrived from his boss, suggesting he take some leave in Florida. It seemed that Henry Ziegler, the rich and eccentric oil king and railroad builder, needed help.

As Kane left the train at St. Augustine, he narrowly escaped being killed by a knife-thrower. And as he rode out to Ziegler’s plantation, the same assassin shot at him from behind a tree. When Kane heard Ziegler’s story, he began to realize the danger of his mission…

Louis Masterson takes Kane out of his normal hunting grounds in The Devil’s Marshal and has him experiencing new fears deep in the swamps of Florida where death can strike swiftly from the wildlife as easily as from humans. The strain of this new environment sees Kane lose his fragile grip on keeping his temper in check and he lets the homicidal psychopath that dwells deep within him emerge in a violent killing spree so he can complete this assignment at get back to the places he’s more comfortable.

Masterson has also created a superb adversary for Kane, a facially deformed killer named Indigo who has the appearance of the living dead, a man who matches Kane’s ability to draw a gun and may be faster…

The latter part of the book takes place at sea, aboard a ship as it attempts to deliver an illegal cargo. I’ve always thought Louis Masterson (real name Kjell Hallbing) had an excellent way with words when describing the beauty and threat of the sea, and he excels here, Kane’s attempt to stop the ship and the consequences make for some suspenseful and memorable reading. These dramatic closing scenes also include the final face-off between Kane and Indigo and as the dark waves washing over him, will Kane at last find the peace he craves in death?