The Fire of Greed

By Bill Yenne

Berkley, November 2013

Bounty hunter Bladen Cole rode into Santa Fe with the bodies of two wanted outlaws who decided to try their luck against his Colt .45. But he’s riding out with an even more profitable venture – the capture of four robbers who stole a payroll from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.

Rather than let word spread about the theft, the railroad men need someone who can get the job done quickly and quietly. This is a job for a bounty hunter.

Following a trail of bodies, Cole soon realizes that the payroll robbery is only the beginning of something much bigger and bloodier on the horizon…

This is the second Bladen Cole book and it proves to be just as an entertaining read as the first. Bill Yenne fills his tale with intrigue, action, and a number of excellent twists to the tale.

Bladen Cole’s pursuit of the payroll robbers brings up painful memories of his past, something that will become one of the major storylines of this tale. Cole will also meet someone who may have a meaningful role to play in his future too.

Bill Yenne switches regularly from character to character weaving a number of different threads that are soon heading on a collision course. Not all these threads are resolved at the same time, in fact some launch new problems for the bounty hunter.

With both strong male and female roles, a gripping plot that at times mirrors a Shakespeare play, exciting gunfights, visual descriptions, believable dialogue (and very little bad language), this is a book that should be on the reading list of all western fans.

Bladen Cole: Bounty Hunter

By Bill Yenne

Berkley, November 2012

Bladen Cole will be getting a handsome sum of money from Isham Ransdell, the owner of the Gallatin City Bank. It’s not a withdrawal, but a reward for the heads of the men who killed Ransdell’s associates. The banker wants the Porter boys back in Gallatin City dead or alive – preferably dead. As Cole sets out on his manhunt, he questions the motivation of his new client, the only rich man in Gallatin City somehow left unscathed…

His pursuit goes smoothly enough until he finds himself in the middle of a battle between two rival Blackfeet bands. Cole is forced to take sides, but luckily, this double duty leads him straight to the Porter boys, who are surprised to see a bounty hunter flanked by such an unusual posse. But Bladen Cole is in for a few surprises of his own…

This is the first book in a new western series and as far as I can tell the first western fiction from Bill Yenne.

Cole’s backstory is explained quickly and sufficiently in the prologue. The blurb above, taken from the back of the book, is covered in the first part of the story and then the complications set in as Bill Yenne tells his tale through various characters, Ransdell’s daughter, Hannah, being one of my favourites. I found it fascinating seeing her struggle to accept the truth about her father and then having the strength to act on this and see justice served.

Bill Yenne’s writing style is very readable and contains very little bad language and that that is does is very tame. Descriptions are good as is character development. Action scenes are gripping and one in particular makes for some very tense reading (Hannah being stalked by something in the night). Relationships are formed but don’t always work out as expected and there’s a neat plot twist near the end.  

On finishing this book I felt that I had been thoroughly entertained and was left looking forward to the next book, The Fire of Greed that at the time of writing this review is to be published in November 2013.