REDEMPTION TRAIL is the latest Yakima
Henry novel from Peter Brandvold, and it’s a mighty good one. Yakima, a big,
two-fisted, gun-handy, half-breed drifter and adventurer, is traveling with a
partner for a change when disaster befalls them. The old-timer named Pete Cahill
winds up dead, but before passing on, he gets Yakima’s promise to deliver a
letter and a money belt to his son, far north in Dakota Territory. Yakima sets
out to honor that pledge, but it’ll come as no surprise to the readers that he
runs into a heap of trouble along the way, starting with an encounter in Denver
with some visiting Englishmen that makes him some enemies.
Then there are the two orphaned girls he takes under his wing, one of them beautiful
and just old enough to be tempting to a man of lesser moral fortitude than our
boy Yakima. Plus the passel of vicious bounty hunters who are after him and
willing to kill anybody who gets in their way. With all that and more going on,
Yakima will be lucky to reach his destination with his hide intact, let alone
complete his mission.
As always with a Brandvold book, REDEMPTION TRAIL delivers plenty of gritty
action, colorful characters, and vividly captured settings. Brandvold writes
with the soul of a poet and the heart of a pulpster. Yakima Henry may well be
my favorite character of his. There are a few places in this book where it
seems like ol’ Yakima may be mellowing a mite, but he’s still capable of
dealing out a lot of hot lead to the bad guys. If you’re a Brandvold fan,
chances are you already have this novel. If you’re not and you love Western
action, check it out. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.
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