A bullet shattered the farmhouse window. Glass imploded, shards glittering, spiraling in all directions, raining on to the threadbare parlor carpet.
Guns of the Past (Black Horse, 1997 and Linford, 1998) starts with a bullet - and speeds like a bullet on through to the climax. And woe to anyone who gets in that bullet’s way. This is one of the hardest hitting westerns I’ve read in a long while. Characters die here - likable, sympathetic, even innocent characters whom other writers would hesitate to kill. But though it's sad - even shocking - to see them go, they die in a good cause, to give more emotional punch to the book’s protagonist, Matt Brenner.
Matt, you see, was once foolish enough to join the Scarred L Gang, some of the most ruthless outlaws ever to terrorize the West. The gang’s leader is a demon in human form who allows no one to quit. But Matt quit, and ran, and has been hiding ever since, regretting the mistakes of his past. And now, suddenly, that past has caught up with him, making his present a living hell. MORE
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