Waking in the dirt to the smell of smoke, widower Ben Palmer finds his homestead razed, and his daughter gone.Ben is raising his daughter Iris as best he could, scratching a living out of the rocky New Mexico mountain soil. Life is hard – but it just gets a lot harder.Under the lead of the notorious Stitch Jacobs, six desperate men have just fouled relations between the Apache nation and a wealthy land baron. Caught in the crosshairs of their escape, Ben’s daughter is taken hostage as a peace offering to the tyrant who bankrolls the gang.Ben is desperate. Getting his daughter back means a chase across Apache land – where he is neither familiar nor safe. The outlaw gang has seen to that.Riding in hard pursuit, Ben encounters an Apache scout who has lost his name and will do anything to get it back. Joining ruined fortunes, it’s two men with nothing to lose pitting themselves against seven of the hardest guns in the territory.Hotel owner Sophie Martin harbors a secret that could help Ben, and ruin Stitch in the bargain – if only they can catch the gang in time. But, with Iris under his thumb, the Outlaw King won’t give up his prize without a fight.Will Ben find his daughter before it’s too late? Each novel in the Western Justice Adventures series is a standalone story, with sprinkles of romance, that can be read out of order.
5 STARS for this interesting shoot-em-up action packed storyline also filled with human emotion, pain, love, & regret. 2 men from different walks of life come together accidentally, each suffering extensively; one aches emotionally because his soul was taken from him & that affects what he does & the other man aches from a beating he received & emotionally because the men took his 15 yr old daughter & burned his cabin down. These 2 men have nothing left but battered bodies & heavy emotional scars
These men are not gun slicks or experts with knives or their fist; all they have is they are in the right They are good men done wrong & will keep on after the.7 men until they get Ben's daughter & Shadows soul & name (standing in the Apache Tribes & Land). The universe brought these 2 men together to meet each other. Fate!
Ben Palmer and his daughter, Iris, arrive home to find Stitch Jacobs and his gang looting their cabin. Ben gets brutally beaten, his home gets burned to the ground and Iris gets abducted. Borrowing a horse and a gun from his neighbor, Ben begins the pursuit. What a pursuit it is too! It takes him right through Apache country. They are not at all pleased with the White man after Stitch and his goons ravaged some of their women. Ben runs into an Indian scout who is also after the gang. Can the two of them bring that entire bunch to justice and rescue Iris?
Not too much blood and gore, and just enough romance without the bedroom scenes (that get very old and repetitive).
I really like the message of possible redemption in this story. You really grow to like Shadow and cheer for him.
Over all, a really good story.
I would rate it PG. There are parts that would be PG-13 but the details aren't spelled out. Some mild language. Even so, some parents may want to review before allowing a younger child to read it.
I recommend this book. (Read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.)
I really enjoyed reading this Western. The excitement started from the beginning of the first chapter. Iris a fifteen year old young lady is kidnapped by a bunch of cutthroat outlaws. Her father is injured but he goes after her with grit and determination. I highly recommend this novel , to those who love classic Westerns.
Ben arrived home with his daughter Iris and his world changed. Seven bad men were there, knock him out and took Iris. Once Ben woke up his only thought was to track down the men and save Iris.
Wow how thought a dirt farmer like Ben Palmer could take on a deadly group of outlaws. But with the incentive of getting his daughter back he found brotherhood with a reforming outlaw and an Indian. Plus he found a new wife and life. All ends well.