Friday, September 20, 2024

Review: Kit Sloan, Texas Bounty Hunter #1: Wolf's Crossing - Jamie Mason


I’ve edited several of Jamie Mason’s novels in the past, but these days I read them as a fan of his work. His recent novel KIT SLOAN, TEXAS BOUNTY HUNTER: WOLF’S CROSSING is the first book in a new Western series from Dusty Saddle Publishing, and it promises to be a very good one.

Despite the title, WOLF’S CROSSING takes place in Arizona, not Texas, but Kit Sloan, who rode as a guerrilla with Quantrill during the Civil War, is a bounty hunter. However, in this book he’s not after a wanted fugitive. Instead, he’s hired by a wealthy rancher to track down and recover a very valuable bull that’s been stolen. The rancher sends one of his sons along to accompany Sloan, a stipulation that the bounty hunter doesn’t like but has to accept if he wants the job.

Sloan and the young man pick up a third member of their group in short order: an Apache woman whose family has been wiped out by the same vicious outlaws who stole the bull. Sloan doesn’t like taking her along, either, but again he has no choice. He’d rather have her where he can keep an eye on her.

Their quarry is a young Mexican bandit known as Kid Danny, who is accompanied by his grandmother, who’s just as ruthless and dangerous as he is, and an Irish mercenary. Sloan and his companions catch up to them at Wolf’s Crossing, an isolated settlement near the Arizona-Mexico border, and as you might expect, all hell breaks loose.

This is a very entertaining, action-packed Western. Kit Sloan is plenty tough and hardboiled, but he’s also a likable protagonist. Kid Danny is a great villain, as despicable as they come despite his youth and innocent appearance. There are a few plot twists to liven things up, and the plentiful action scenes are top-notch. This isn’t as bloody as, say, a Piccadilly Cowboys Westerns, but it’s got plenty of bark on it. I had a really good time reading WOLF’S CROSSING. If you enjoy hard-edged Westerns, there’s a good chance you will, too. It’s currently available as an e-book on Amazon with a print edition in the works.

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