The Reluctant Pinkerton

TALBOT ROPER #2

By Robert J. Randisi

Berkley, July 2013

Former Pinkerton agent Talbot Roper has a begrudging respect for his old boss. When Allan Pinkerton dies and his sons send for Roper to attend the funeral, he has no choice but to oblige them. But Pinkerton’s sons, who now run the agency, want Roper to do more than pay his respects. They have a dangerous assignment that no man on their payroll can handle.

Now Roper is headed for Fort Worth, Texas, where someone is sabotaging the Union Stockyard company. Undercover to infiltrate the industry, Roper knows that the men he’s up against aren’t just smart; they’re deadly. And he’ll need to remember everything Allan ever taught him to finish the job…and stay alive.

Robert J. Randisi has written hundreds of westerns and crime novels and in this series he combines the best of both worlds to create a fast moving, gripping, read that is very difficult to put down before you find out who is behind the stockyard sabotage and why they are doing it.

Roper is an engaging hero and I particularly liked how he decides to go under cover, dressing differently and using a new name, yet doesn’t quite get it right meaning those he’s trying to deceive sense something is wrong about him and with each new character Robert J. Randisi introduces, Roper finds his list of suspects getting longer and longer.

Roper also has to deal with Dol, a young lady who wants to be an operative Pinkerton, to show that women can more than match the male detectives in ability to solve a crime. Roper just sees her inexperience as a hindrance that could get them both killed. Can Dol prove herself to both him and the Pinkerton brothers?

Some will know that many of Robert J. Randisi’s westerns contain explicit sexual content, so I feel I must point out that the Talbot Roper series is not one of those. What it does have is plenty of tense scenes, lightning fast action, and many twists and turns, resulting in a book that should appeal to all who enjoy well written westerns, particularly those who like plots containing mystery elements.

Let’s hope it’s not too long before Talbot Roper hits the trail again.