It has been three long years since
that late fall night that Ryan vanished from Tularosa. Many in the western town
thought he was dead. Considering the physical shape he is in now as he rides
into town it is amazing he didn’t die that night when Kane and his men ambushed
him outside of town. Considering the shape he is in mentally something in him
did die that night.
One of those ambushers was a Kane
brother known to one and all as Bill Kane who is about to hang for the murder
of Ryan’s sister, Sally. Whether he did it or not is not the issue for many in
the town who feel the tyranny of the Kane family. It didn’t take the jury long
to convict him of the murder. After all, Bill Kane was found standing over the
body by Pat Congrady who runs the hardware store. The same Pat Congrady that everyone
around knew loved Sally and knew would never hurt her. The fact that a Kane was
involved and thus could be punished for the sins of the family meant more too
many than whether or not he actually did it.
Pat Congrady had been planning on
marrying Sally Ryan right up until she died. It had been three long years because
everything changed when Ryan vanished. Kane got the Ryan land leaving Sally
nothing but a small shack to live in. After Ryan vanished and everyone thought
he was dead, Sally was never the same and won’t be ever again.
Why Ryan is back isn’t clear to
anyone---even Ryan himself. The events that happened that night in Shatter’s Grove
changed the lives of all who were there and several that we are not. Ryan is
back and will be forced to confront his past and the legacy he left behind.
A solidly good western with a couple
of surprises along the way, Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story
is a read far different from the author’s various mystery series. A western
novel of personal redemption and forgiveness, much of the read is spent in the
past as Ryan tries to adjust to life in the present. Delving deep into the
psyche of the main character means that some of the various distant secondary
characters are little more than one dimensional type figures with little depth
to them. Interspersed with Ryan’s journey of redemption, are sections devoted
to other important characters and their perspective. Their various situations
are often complicated and were changed significantly; either directly by the
events in Shatter’s Grove and his subsequent disappearance or indirectly by way
of ripple effects. Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story is a solidly good western
tale that works well from start to finish.
Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story
Bill Crider
Crossroad
Press & Macabre Ink Digital
September 2010
ASIN: B0042RV8KI
E-Book
188 Pages
$2.99
Material was recently purchased to
read and review using funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
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4 comments:
Thanks, Kevin!
Sounds like an excellent read!
I read the last Dan Rhodes book and enjoyed it so that I had to go back and start at the beginning. I'm about half-way through and will be sorry to get to the finish.
I will have to try this book and see if it can live up to expectations about Rhodes.
thanks
Thing to remember is, while good, these westerns of his and there are quite a few are very different than the Rhodes series. The same is true for his other mystery series.
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