Sunday 15 July 2012

Morgan Kane: Revenge!


By Louis Masterson
WR Films Entertainment Group, Inc.
eBook, June 2012

Morgan Kane’s friend, Peter Grossmann, had been gunned down by convicts on the run from the penitentiary at El Paso.

Kane dealt with two of the gunmen but the ringleader, Johnny Vulture, was still at large. Kane was determined to hunt him down and avenge Grossmann’s death. Johnny Vulture, for his part, had marked Kane down as the marshal who’d killed his companions. And there was the woman – Allison MacKay.

She had known Kane long ago. She, too, had old scores to settle…

This is an essential read for those following the adventures of Morgan Kane for the book brings to an end a story thread that has been running throughout the series so far, and also sees a doctor giving Kane some grave warnings about his current life-style (and when you consider this book originally came out in 1967, those warnings are not unlike those doctors dish out today). Kane’s attempt to follow the doctor’s advice put a massive grin on my face.

Kane doesn’t really feature that much in the book, particularly at the beginning after he’s killed some of the men who gunned down his friend Grossmann (another character whom readers will have met a number of times in previous books). Louis Masterson turns the book over to Johnny Vulture and his chance meeting with Allison MacKay and the plans they put into motion to rid the world of Kane…

Louis Masterson really does create an excellent emotional atmosphere once Kane and Allison come face to face. Can Kane forget the violent past between them? Can she? Is it possible Kane is falling in love? To reveal the answers to those questions here would really dilute the strength of the horrific ending to the book, these final scenes painting a very visual, dramatically haunting conclusion to this chapter in Kane’s life. 

Interesting cover too, for not only does it illustrate the passions of the book extremely well, the inclusion of the gun and dog (Allison’s savage pet) tell of the violence that is waiting to destroy without warning. The shadows concealing the figures faces also indicate the dark tone to this story – indeed the whole series – perfectly.

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