Monday 24 June 2013

A Storm in Montana

By Will DuRey
Hale, June 2013

Clancy Jarrett possesses a quick and violent temper and the citizens of Brannigan are careful not to cross him. But when his stagecoach hold-up is thwarted by three trail-herders his rage cannot be contained and with revenge on his mind soon there are bodies piling up. For the cowboys, their status as heroes is short-lived and when Jarrett learns they are escorting Kate Jeavons, a dance-hall girl whose sister he has captive, to testify against him, they are firmly in his sights.

Black clouds are forming overhead, but which storm will break first: the wild prairie rain, or the deadly guns of Jarrett and his crew?

A Storm in Montana is Will DuRey’s fifth Black Horse Western but only the second I’ve read, the previous one being In the High Bitterroots, and like that book I found this to be an equally entertaining read.

Once the two surviving cowboys team up with Kate Jeavons the book becomes a chase story, with the three of them trying to stay one step ahead of Jarrett and his men, and there is unrest among this group of outlaws. This isn’t the only plot thread, for there’s also a lawman heading in their direction who has problems of his own. 

There’s lots of well-written action and not all of the main characters will escape being on the wrong end of a bullet or two. In fact, as the story raced to its end, I did start to wonder if any of them would be alive by the last page.

A Storm in Montana is officially released on June 28th but is available now from the usual Internet sources.

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