Sunday 24 July 2011

The Trailsman #357


STAGECOACH SIDEWINDERS
By Jon Sharpe
Signet, July 2011

Colorado, 1860 – caught between a rock and a hard place, Fargo’s going to carve out a new trail – with lead.

After Skye Fargo drives off a pack of stagecoach robbers, he ends up in the middle of a battle for business. In the boomtown of Oro City, there are two coach companies – and the competition between them is getting bloodier every day. But with the Trailsman stepping into the fray, one of them is going to have to let go of the reins….

This book is jam-packed with great characters, such as Big Jim Buchanan, Tangwaci Smith, Brandy Randall and Melissa Hart. And who can forget the two assassins, Miles Blackburn and Hitch? Surely the politest killers to have appeared in a Trailsman book for some time? All these characters are superbly created and are very memorable, all having important roles to play in this very fast moving story.

Fargo really has a challenging time figuring out just who is working for who, who is behind the stagecoach attacks and why. It isn’t long before The Trailsman is caught in the grip of anger, an emotion that brings out the tougher, more deadly side of him, which in turn leads to plenty of bloody action that few will survive.

Once again we have David Robbins writing as Jon Sharpe, so those who’ve read him before will know to expect some humorous comments to balance the violence. All plot threads are neatly tied up at the end and I’m left looking forwards to the next book in the series. 

1 comment:

David Robbins said...

Steve, Thank you for your kind comments. Always looking for new things for Fargo to do and thought it would be cool to have him drive a stage. :)