Review: 4 1/2 Stars from Red Adept Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 12, 2010
Plot/Storyline: 5 StarsI am not a fan of Westerns. The only ones I have read are Lonesome Dove , by Larry McMurtry and a couple by Louis L'Amore of which I don't recall the names.  I did enjoy all of those, though, so I was willing to try this one when the author submitted it. I'm very glad I did.The plot was an intricate mystery that I found to be coherent and well-planned. Toward the end, like the main characters, just when I thought I had something figured out, the story would take a different turn. These turns were woven into the storyline smoothly.The book opens with two young gunslingers, who are not much more than kids, entering a new town and looking for work. I was immediately drawn in by some action when seemingly random violence exploded down main street.  Later, there was an interesting mystery that included a kidnapping and a murder, to hold my attention.  There were equal measures of action and investigation to make this a fun novel to read.My favorite scene was the description of the puppet show. The main characters had not seen one before, so their reactions and observations were hilarious.The ending was very satisfying. It pulled all the loose threads neatly together.Character Development: 4 StarsMick and Casey, the two main characters, while interesting, were not fully developed. At times, I had the feeling that this was the second in a series or something, and that I had missed the first book. There just was not enough information about them to give me a feeling of empathy for their characters. There were small hints given to show some events from their past, but these were few and far between.  More background on these two would definitely have given them more depth.The side characters were interesting and developed within the story as much as needed. The little girl in the story was very realistically portrayed.Writing Style: 4 3/4 StarsThe sentence structuring was very good, for the most part. There were a few instances of sentence fragments that I thought were more for flavor than an editing issue. However, they weren't pervasive enough to maintain that feel throughout the novel. The descriptions were very well done, leaving me with a feel of actually being in the "old West." The action scenes, where many writers stumble, were carefully drawn to avoid any confusion. The dialogue was great for the period; the vocabulary might have been a little modern for the time, but I think that helped rather than hindered the story.