Review: Totally un-put-down-able
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 8, 2013
As a huge--and I mean HUGE--fan of Westerns, from Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns to Clint Eastwood's modern take (`Unforgiven') to even Stephen King's the `Dark Tower' series, show me a story with a lone, undefeatable character in it--a character that otherwise has a weakness--and I'll grab it with trembling hands. That's why when I saw P.K. Vandcast's book, `Jonas Cane U.S. Marshal: Bloodlust', and read the sample chapters, I immediately bought it. I have already read it twice and I couldn't wait for any sequel the author churns out--hopefully in the near future.The eponymous `Jonas Cane...' is about a U.S. Marshal who, with his strange ability to anticipate the actions of others, is able to deal with them with surgical precision. But a villain comes to the town of Bisbee in Cochise County in Arizona, a villain who seems "impenetrable" to Cane's power. The villain turns out to be Cane's "Achilles heel", and poses a real, possibly fatal threat to Cane--does Cane have a chance? Or is this, finally, the end?Cane reminds me of Nicolas Cage's character in `Next', or even Guy Ritchie's more action-y `Sherlock Holmes' in the way Jonas Cane fights--he knows with surgical precision where to strike, and how to do it as lightning fast as possible, that he can overpower just about anyone. Here, finally, is a new character I can root for--Cane is jaws-dropping in the book, and I believe on the big screen as well (if this is actually optioned as a Hollywood film). I also love how author Vandcast set Cane as Earp's contemporary, which presents rich opportunities for more interesting sequels.Vandcast's book is pure gravy--I savoured every moment of it. My only misgiving is that this is so much fun to read that I feel there should be more. In any case, hard-core fans of the genre will absolutely love Jonas Cane, and I bet they all will be standing in line when Vandcast produces a sequel. A very satisfying read. Highly recommended!