As in these times, just after the Civil War there
were men in prison for crimes they did not commit. Lucas Fume is one such man
serving time in the Tennessee State Prison. Convicted of the murder of his
business partner, John Barlow, Lucas has done a lot of questionable things over
the years. This was especially true during the Civil War. His guilt on that is
one thing, but he never murdered anyone.
Fortunately, Lucas Fume is a better than average good
fighter and has earned a reputation of being one of the toughest guys in the prison.
A reputation that somebody is looking to take down a notch as there was no
other reason for the stranger to come after him. Lucas has taken some shots,
but given as well as he has gotten and is holding his own against his latest
attacker. As the fight rages on while prisoners place bets on the outcome, a
fire has begun elsewhere close by in the prison. That fire and the commotion it
has caused have turned what was a simple fight between two prisoners into a
free for all between many of the men.
It also means others that Lucas has no idea who they
are have moved into range of Lucas. That includes a former slave and fellow prisoner
by the name of Ezekiel “Zeke” Henry. He has come looking for Lucas for a reason
as he started that fire as part of a plan to free Lucas from prison. There really
isn’t time to ask questions though Lucas tries as the fire increases and guards
beginning to respond to take control of the prison back from the inmates and
quell the violence. Why he is being
sprung now is just one of the many questions in Lucas’ mind as he takes a
chance and follows Zeke in the unknown.
First of a new series featuring Lucas Fume, this
western is a good one. Like most of author Larry D. Sweazy’s main characters,
Lucas is a flawed human being who has done a number of things that others would
question and quite possibly hang him for. He is a complicated human being, but
his word means just about everything to him.
Couple that with a strong mystery component which is
usually present in the author’s westerns, a compelling secondary storyline, and
other ingredients and you have more of the quality read that worked so well in The
Devil’s Bones and the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series. When
you read a Larry D. Sweazy book it isn’t surprising why the author collects so
many awards for his work. He has done it again with Vengeance At Sundown: A Lucas
Fume Western.
Vengeance
At Sundown: A Lucas Fume Western
Larry
D. Sweazy
Berkley
Western Novel (A penguin Radom House Company)
August
2014
Paperback
(also available in e-book and large print formats)
320
Pages
$7.99
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my
objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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