Originally published by Berkley, this great read is now available through WordWise Publishing Services,
LLC. From the archive….
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.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Cir9Kv
Material supplied by the author in
exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2024
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment