Fool's Play
By Carl Williams
A Black Horse Western from Hale, December 2010
Royce rides
into Jawbone looking for a doctor and finds nothing but trouble. But
then how can he expect anything else when he lives by the gun?
Royce signs on
with the land baron Yale Jamerson, hoping for a job that will give his
conscience a rest, but Jamerson’s plans to dam the river and charge
tolls on the road lead the townspeople to revolt.
Now Royce is
forced to choose between his livelihood and his conscience. Will he
choose the right path, especially if it means a showdown with his closet
friend?
As far as I can tell Fool’s Play
is the first Black Horse Western by Carl Williams. It is also a longer
book than most of the BHW I have read recently – it has the same number
of pages but much smaller print.
Jamerson is a
hard man attempting to control and hold back progress. He’s not an evil
man but his methods of trying to hold onto a way of life he knows are
not welcomed by the people who live in the nearby town, people who want
to see their town grow. This leads to all kinds of tense confrontations,
particularly when the town brings in some lawmen that are nothing more
than hired guns.
Royce makes
for an excellent hero. He’s a man who can see the problems facing each
side in this power struggle. Of course it soon becomes apparent Royce
will have to quite working for Jamerson and side with the town and the
woman who is showing an interest in him. This leads to a spectacular
showdown on the dam.
Carl Williams definitely knows how to build a story and hook a reader, making this a book that I found very difficult
to put down until I found out how everything was resolved. The climax
to the story bringing about some surprising endings for a few of the
characters; which in a couple of cases was not how I expected things to
finish.
On the strength of this book I’m definitely looking forward to more from Carl Williams. Fool’s Play is available to buy now.
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