The Preacher's Legacy

By Walter L. Bryant

Hale, June 2013

Tom Deegan’s fight for survival begins when he rescues a child from a burning stagecoach, held up by the murdering preacher and his gang. The preacher dies and Tom takes the loot and hides it.

Years later three killers are looking for Tom, and the money. But protecting himself, and his adopted son Billy, is only made more difficult by the local rancher, whose hired guns want Tom dead. By using his fighting skills can he protect them both? And can he remain silent about the whereabouts of the cash?

After enjoying Walter L. Bryant’s first Black Horse Western, Nine Dead Men, I guess it was inevitable that I’d read this one.

The hunt for the missing money is played out against a backdrop of a land-grab plot, this latter element of the tale giving Deegan a few more enemies to worry about. He gets involved in this by rescuing a farmer and this leads to some romantic interest between Deegan and the farmers' daughter. Only trouble is her brother was killed during that long ago stage robbery whilst Tom looked on which is something she might not be able to ignore.

Walter L. Bryant tells his story from the point-of-view of different characters. Bounty hunter Slim being one of my favourites, he will do anything to get his hands on the missing money and he is the one who will cause most of the problems for Deegan. 

The story is told well and the plot moves forward rapidly. There’s plenty of action which includes a couple of great, tense, scenes involving bluff’s with empty guns.

So, once again, Walter L. Bryant presents the reader with a very entertaining read and, in my case, leaves me looking forward to his next.

The Preacher’s Legacy is officially released tomorrow but is already available from the usual Internet bookstores.