THE TRAINWRECKERS

THE GUNS OF SAMUEL PRITCHARD

Book 4 of 4

By Sean Lynch

Pinnacle, November 2021

1875. The escalating rivalry between the two major railroad companies takes a dangerous – and deadly – turn when a train is deliberately derailed. Many are killed. More are injured. And Marshall Samuel Pritchard’s longtime friend is crippled for life. The mastermind behind the train wreck claims to be the infamous Civil War criminal Jem Rupe, aka “The Trainwrecker of Platte Bridge.” There’s just one problem: Rupe has been dead for ten years.... 

With an oath of vengeance on his lips – and a pair of Colt .45s on his hips – Pritchard set off to find the trainwrecking fiend, whether it’s really Jem Rupe of some copy-cat maniac. Either way, he’ll have to ride the rails with some pretty deranged characters – crooked railroad tycoons, ruthless bounty hunters, trigger-happy gunfighters – before he reaches the end of the line. There’s just one way to stop a mass transit murderer . . . and that’s dead in his tracks.

Although this reads extremely well as a stand-alone novel you may well prefer to read the previous three as the author, Sean Lynch, brings back a number of characters from those earlier stories. There are also a few references to the plots of those books, but the author does provide any information you may need to know to fully understand any links to the plot of this tale.

Pritchard is suspicious of the blame being laid on Jem Rupe from the moment he arrives at the wrecked train and witnesses the horrors that have befallen the passengers and crew, not least the life-changing injuries his friend has suffered. The deliberate execution of any wounded mayors travelling together in a coach, points at this attack being more than just a robbery.

Most of the book follows Pritchard as he attempts to find out if Rupe is dead or alive, and if the latter, whether he was behind the train wreck. He also soon has ideas as to who the mastermind is and the reasons for the destruction and killings. The odds mount against Pritchard as gunmen seek him out and the author springs surprise after surprise. There is plenty of savage gunplay that test Pritchard’s abilities with a gun. Sean Lynch also tells of the danger facing Pritchard’s loved ones back in the town of Atherton as they try to solve the mystery behind the atrocity.

Like the other three books, I found this one to be a terrific read. Filled with fascinating characters and a twisting plot that never lets up in its intensity and I found it difficult to put this book down before I reached the end. Hopefully there will be more books in this series, but as Pinnacle seem to finish series after four books this may well be the last one, I hope that isn’t the case as I’d really like to read more.

THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS

 

THE GUNS OF SAMUEL PRITCHARD 3

By Sean Lynch

Pinnacle, September 2021

As both a former Confederate guerrilla and Texas Ranger, and now a U.S. Marshal, no one knows the dangers of the frontier and cowtowns like Marshal Samuel Pritchard. A couple of wagon trains traveling the Oregon Trail have vanished and Pritchard’s got miles of bad road across hostile territory to investigate. But he must also reckon with a price on his head. Bounty hunter Captain Laird Bonner is the greatest manhunter throughout the west – and he’s as ruthless as he’s relentless in pursuing his prey.

Then the trail for both Pritchard and Bonner ends in an Idaho mining town named Whiskey Falls. Ruled by a man who earned his stripes in Andersonville, the town is a literal hell for everyone who lives there, slaying and dying to satiate their captor’s lustful greed. To escape, Pritchard and Bonner must declare an uneasy truce and take on an army of gunmen.

Nearly two years after the release of the second book in the series, the third finally appears (with a fourth due in November) and it easily stands as strong as the first two. 

Although the opening scenes take place in Atherton, Pritchard’s home town that he’s town marshal of, it isn’t long before Pritchard leaves it behind to investigate the missing wagon trains that seem to have vanished into thin air without leaving any kind of trace as to what happened to them. Joining up with a wagon train of travellers made up of Quakers leads to some lively exchanges between the Marshal and those he finds himself protecting from outlaws and Indians. The Quakers refuse to fight, believing God will protect them, a belief Pritchard just doesn’t agree with. 

As expected, the fate that befell the missing wagon train strikes the Quakers in a savage battle that results in a very high number of killings. This is also where Pritchard’s path crosses with Bonner, yet at this point he doesn’t know that Bonner is a bounty hunter after his hide.

There is plenty of violent action throughout the tale, but the desperate fight for survival mentioned in the previous paragraph is nothing compared to what is to come. If you like stories with colossal death tolls then this is the book for you as Pritchard and his companions face massive odds.

As the survivors escape the horrors that descended on the wagon trains, there is still the matter of Pritchard verses Bonner to resolve and one or two other loose ends to tie up. Sean Lynch does all of this neatly in an almost underplayed way after all the brutally violent scenes that came before.

The Blood of Innocents is a very entertaining action-packed read that should satisfy all western readers. 

COTTONMOUTH

 

THE GUNS OF SAMUEL PRITCHARD 2

By Sean Lynch

Pinnacle, February 2020

1874. After losing his innocence in the Civil War and risking his life as a Texas Ranger, Samuel Pritchard has finally settled into a peaceful life in his hometown of Atherton, Missouri. As marshal, he hopes to put his bloody past behind him. To see his sister marry his lifelong friend. To find a wife and raise a family. For the first time in his life, Pritchard isn’t gunning for anyone – and no one is gunning for him. Or so he thinks. Strangers have arrived in Atherton. Hard-eyed men with guns. Someone has placed a bounty on Pritchard’s head: $10,000 in gold, deposited anonymously in Wells Fargo bank, payable to anyone who puts the legendary pistolero in a pine box. . . . 

Although this is a self-contained novel, and if you haven’t already done so, then I’d suggest reading the previous book, Death Rattle, first, as a number of characters return from that book and some of the events from that story are mentioned too. Sean Lynch does include enough background in this tale to explain what has happened before so it isn’t essential you read that earlier book first but it may enhance your enjoyment of this one if you do so.

Once the bounty hunters start arriving in town, this book becomes a tale of almost non-stop action. Fast, violent gunplay that the innocent become victims of too. Pritchard leaves town in an attempt to draw the gunmen away from Atherton as he tries to discover just who put the bounty on his head and why. Not all the troubles leave town though, and those left behind find themselves in deadly peril and the townsfolk find themselves praying that Pritchard will return in time to help them face this threat.

Sean Lynch weaves a tangled web of deceit, mystery and danger that often explodes in bloody exchanges of lead. The author has created a wonderful set of memorable characters for this tale, both good and bad, that will have you rooting for them or hoping for their swift demise. Lynch also includes humorous moments, mainly in dialogue, that fit easily and naturally into the swift flow of the prose. 

Like the first book, I found Cottonmouth to be a thoroughly entertaining read. The next in the series, The Blood of Innocents, is due to be published in August and the fourth book, The Trainwreckers, will follow in October and I’m really looking forward to reading them both.

Death Rattle

THE GUNS OF SAMUEL PRITCHARD #1

By Sean Lynch

Pinnacle, July 2019

In 1863, a teenaged boy fled his home in Atherton, Missouri, to escape the power-hungry men who murdered his father and stole his family’s land. He joined the Confederacy under an assumed name and rode with guerrilla raiders in the Civil War. Then came a decade as a Texas Ranger. Now, after ten blood-soaked years, he is finally coming home. Finally using his real name. And finally getting revenge against the cold-hearted devils who destroyed his family and his life . . .

This is the story of Samuel Pritchard. A man with a long history of violence, a deep sense of honour, and a wild streak of justice as dangerous as the guns that made him famous . . . 

The first book in a new series and the first western from Sean Lynch, at the moment best known for his crime fiction but with this book that could, perhaps, all change.

Death Rattle is divided into four parts, Soldier, Ranger, Gunfighter and Home. Each section could almost be a stand-alone story in itself but Sean Lynch links them with passages about Pritchard’s surviving family members, his mother and sister, and the horrors that are befalling them back in Atherton. Will Pritchard return to his home town in time to save them?

The first three parts of the book show how Pritchard changes from boy to man, becoming a brutal killer as a death spirit seems to guide him and control him as his rage rises to drive his actions. This dark force seen by those around him, one of whom tells Pritchard how he can rid himself of it. As a reader I was gripped by this element of the story and wanted to discover if Pritchard could lose this cold-hearted blood-lust that had motivated him ever since he rose from the grave so to speak. Let me quickly add that this isn’t a supernatural tale, Pritchard isn’t dead, isn’t a zombie or anything like that, he’s a man who experience some very dark times and these horrific changes to his life seem to take a grip of his soul.

Sean Lynch writes in an extremely readable style that has produced a story that demands the reader keeps turning the pages. There is plenty of tough, violent action that sees Pritchard taking on massive odds at times. There’s even time for him to fall in love but like most things in Pritchard’s life that doesn’t end well either. The author has also created a terrific supporting cast of both friends and enemies that are a joy to read about too. Pritchard does border on the mythical a little in his abilities with his guns and to survive the situations he finds himself in, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this novel and I’ll certainly be reading the second book, Cottonmouth, when it is published in January 2020. 

Also available in audio formats.