Fort Death

THE TRAILSMAN #374

By Jon Sharpe

Signet, December 2012

When Skye Fargo gets a letter from an old friend and fellow scout, he finds he’s not alone. It seems that every sharp-eyed pathfinder worth his buckskins has been asked to Fort Carlson. But it’s soon revealed that someone has brought them together for a very special reason – to take them out, one by one….

Jon Sharpe has created a very engaging group of scouts around whom this story revolves. One will be familiar to readers of the series, California Jim, who was last seen in The Trailsman #166: Mountains of No Return. Not only are their personalities well thought out – who will ever be able to forget Bear River Tom’s fascination with…. you’ll have to read the book to discover just what that is – but the story also has the gripping hook of who is killing the scouts and why.

As well as the strong mystery thread this book is full of action and snappy dialogue that offers some genuine laughs. Being an adult series you’d expect a fair amount of sex but this story doesn’t go overboard with this, in fact there is only one such encounter.

The author (David Robbins writing as Jon Sharpe) writes in a very readable style and piles problem upon problem for Fargo as he battles to stay alive and solve the mystery of who is killing the scouts, never mind the extra danger of rampaging Bannocks who the army is intent on wiping out.

In conclusion Fort Death proves to be an exciting read that shouldn’t be missed by Trailsman fans or anyone who enjoys a fast paced western.