SADDLE UP FOR A HEART-POUNDING, BULLET-BURNING, BIBLE-THUMPING WESTERN SERIES LIKE NONE YOU’VE EVER READ BEFORE!
Reno Bass and his sister Sara are young, blond, blue-eyed twins from western Kansas. Raised right in a good Christian family, they’re pure as the driven snow. But when their family is massacred, they ride the Vengeance Trail to fulfill their father’s dying request—to purge the earth of the Devil’s spawn in the name of God.
In the first book of this shocking new series, Reno and Sara’s farm is burned and their family murdered by a group of ex-Confederate soldiers known as the Devil’s Horde. These ex-Confederates—led by Major Eustace The Bad Old Man Montgomery and Major Black Bob Robert Hobbs—have a chip on their shoulders, and they’re burning a broad swath across the Yankee north, murdering, pillaging, and raping their way to the Colorado Territory.
But when they burn the Bass farm, they find out not every follower of God is a sheep. Sworn to vengeance, Reno and Sara become black-winged avenging angels on a mission from God. Hounding the Confederate devils’ every step, these black-winged angels begin efficiently and bloodily killing them—one by one and two by two—reading to them from the Good Book while sending them back to Hell.
Published in 2019, this is the opening volume of Wolfpack Publishing's Avenging Angels series. Barb and I had previously read the seventh and second installments out of order (long story!); and having really liked those, we recently decided to commit to reading the series. This one takes us to the very beginning of the titular "avenging angels'" adventures.
The Bass twins, George Washington (nicknamed "Reno") and Sara, were 16 in the fall of 1865, just after the Civil War, when they returned home from school and found their western Kansas homestead burned and their parents and three older siblings dead or dying, murdered by a band of vengeful renegade ex-Confederates. (Their sister had also been gang raped.) Before he died, their father charged them to avenge that slaughter. This book is the story of that quest and its outcome (hence the title). "A. W. Hart" is a house pen name; all of the books of the series have different actual authors. Here, the writer was Peter Brandvold, who grew up as a Western fan in the 60s and 70s and went on to write over 100 Western novels, under his own name or his "Frank Leslie" pen name. (Neither Barb nor I had any prior experience with his work.)
There are a couple of significant continuity issues between this volume and the later ones, though these aren't Brandvold's fault. Starting in the second book, our hero's and heroine's promise to their father is said to have explicitly included a charge to continue to hunt down and rid the earth of other evil-doers, even after justice was served on the original villains. That's not at all clear and explicit here. At the end of this book, their resolution to make their quest a continuing one is said to be their own decision, a response to an emotional need of their own. And in the seventh book (and possibly others earlier), the late John Bass is described as having been a Lutheran pastor. In this book, while he's said to have been a God-fearing person who raised his kids to be familiar with the Bible, there's no hint that he was a clergyman of any kind. IMO, on both points, the portrayal here is more plausible and realistic.
However, there are definite flaws in Brandvold's craftsmanship here, starting with chronology. John Bass served in the Mexican War, after which he married and settled in Kansas. The Bass family graveyard on the homestead is said to hold the remains of an infant sibling who died over 20 years before 1865 --in other words, before 1845, and the Bass twins would have been born ca. 1849. But the Mexican War was fought from 1846-1848. There isn't time between Feb. 1848 and the end of 1849 to fit in John Bass' post-war activity, subsequent courtship and marriage, the couple's move to Kansas, and four pregnancies prior to Reno and Sara. (And Kansas was not even opened for settlement until 1854.) If his general knowledge of U.S. history didn't furnish red flags here, very basic research would have precluded these kinds of mistakes. Editing and proofreading here is poor. Brandvold loses the thread of which character is speaking in one key conversation; he can't make up his mind whether two or three antagonists are positioned in one spot during a gun fight, and near the end, a character's last name unaccountably changes from Hill to Stock in the space of two pages. The third-person narrative is consistently from Reno's viewpoint, but in the earlier chapters it incorporates gunslinger's slang (thankfully abandoned later) that a peaceful teenage farm boy would be unlikely to be acquainted with. Near the end, conduct by two of the villains is inconsistent with their group's overall plan. There are other logistical and editorial quibbles that could be made as well.
Both Sara and another important female character, Isabelle Mando, act out of character, or unrealistically for the situation, in one place (though not in the same place). Sara's character, in particular, comes across as less winsome here than it does in the two later books we read. Of the two twins, she's always been the more enduringly angry and vindictive over her family's tragedy, the more aloof and self-contained, and the more ruthless and readily inured to violence. Here, though, she has a readiness to execute even disabled and helpless adversaries that alarms Reno, and at the same time a willingness to ignore a rape attempt on someone else as none of her business. (Thankfully for the victim, Reno didn't share that indifference.) At one point, Reno was feeling a genuine concern for the state of Sara's soul, and a resolution to try to influence her for the better. But later, he's surprised and puzzled when Sara expresses a concern about her own spiritual state; and that theme is never developed any further, just forgotten and left hanging. Brandvold is undeniably a prolific writer; but he comes across to me as a careless and hasty one who sacrifices quality to quantity.
While the main characters here are Christians, and there's a definite theme of good vs. evil, with the idea that God sides with the former and against the latter, none of the series writers are necessarily Christians themselves as far as I know. Bible verses serve as epigraph and postscript, and are quoted at times in the text; but there's no real presentation of the gospel of grace and mercy, and not much wrestling with the Christian ethics of lethal force in a fallen world. Despite the teen protagonists, this is not really YA fiction either; it's a very violent book, with a high body count. (It is, however, free of sexual content, beyond some references to scantily-clad chorus girls in a frontier music hall, and has very little bad language.) There's a chaste romance which some readers will see as marred by an insta-love factor; but in the cultural context, I wasn't bothered by the latter, and for me it's a plus that it's inter-racial. (Positive portrayal of half-Lakota characters and a black character do Brandvold credit.)
While I didn't rate this book as highly as the two later ones, Barb and I still plan to continue with the series. It won't disappoint genre fans who like a heavy dose of gun-fighting action.
An exciting beginning to a new western series from Wolfpack Publishing. Reno and Sara Bass are twins, only sixteen-years-old, when their family is slaughtered by ex-Confederate renegades. With training and aid from a friend of their father, they take up the vengeance trail. A lot of action with a surprising amount of subtle humor. Very good story.
A superior take on the classic Western revenge story that introduces Reno and Sara, twin teenagers who use the Bible to justify their exceedingly violent vengeance upon the Devil’s Horde, a band of confederate raiders that savaged and murdered their family. The characters are well-drawn and very memorable, especially the roguish Ty Mando and his children. The linear narrative races at a breakneck pace with some nice twists and a satisfying conclusion. No cussing or sex, plenty of violence. Highly recommended for folks looking for a new Western series to read, or for fans of revenge stories.
Reno and Sara Bass, twins are on the trail of "The Devils Horde." The Horde led by Major Eustace The Bad Old Man Montgomery and his second in command, Major Black Bob Robert Hobbs were the scourge of Kansas and any other territories that they raided. They liked to raid, loot and murder outlying ranches and small towns with no resistance from those who lived there. Well the twins set out to "avenge" their murdered family, as per their father's last dying request. Well those twins met up with a lot mean, unscrupulous men, whose out look of life was strictly for themselves. Lots of self agonizing by the twins, especially Reno who questioned his conscious regarding killing another man. Where as his sister Sara was the opposite, didn't trust people, it was almost as if she had second sight, you know see the outcome of situations before they occurred. This is a western with teeth and you'll enjoy reading and it's clean and your going to look forward to the next adventure of "The Avenging Angels."
While like many westerns it was a little over the top. This author can turn a phrase, maybe just a few to many for one story. I appreciate the fact that the author knew the geography near Julesburg. If I had written the story I would have made the story in Sedgwick...the wildness would have fit that town better. Thanks for a good read.
The heroes of the story make wonderful great decisions that are phenomenal and then you have them make stupid mistakes when they’re captured. Doesn’t fit the storyline! The other part of your story that needs to be developed better, is that you mentioned several times a year without funds. But yet they fail to go through the soldiers pockets, obtain their horses for sale or confiscate their weapons. Anybody that is without money would normally do that. They don’t even go through the Parkers to find extra ammo. If you’re on the run and had no money and these are things you would do.
More westerns, more adventure. This series is hard to put down. Character development from book to book is enjoyable. Different authors build on the previous books and give the Avenging Angel twins more depth.
A great read,you can feel the passion for vengeance in the characters,the spirit of the Wild West is very much alive in this book,have ordered every book in this series
A violent story of murder and revenge, using Bible verses to justify killing. Two young twins, a boy and girl, begin a life of trying to rid the west of evil, using a gun in one hand and the Bible in the other.
Good story, however the author tries to put so much detail and leaves the reader with no room for personal visions . lots of action. Twins can be alike but they also can be different.
Good vengeance story. Maybe sometimes God needs a little help in the catching up department. The twins need a little more seasoning in post war abilities.
these are a little rough for me in spots, but my husband likes them. I will say they are more like short stories than full books. Also, they are full of editing errors, which is annoying.
AW Hart - Avenging Angels Bk 1 - Vengeance Trail - Reviewed 10/10/19 Murder, rape, vengeance, and justice!
Raised by God-fearing parents, Reno and Sara Bass are stunned when ex-confederate soldiers murder their family and burn the farm. They find their father almost dead with his body burning. His dying request, extracting a promise from them to avenge their family by killing all those known as the Devil’s Horde. The blond, blue-eyed twins begin their vengeance trail to fulfill their promise, following the Horde as they cut a path murdering, pillaging, and raping their way to Denver City in the Colorado Territory. Along the way, they have to accept that their family is gone and face that life is hard and not all according to the Good Book. Little by little, one by one, taking their justice on their way to finding all of the Devil’s spawns all in the name of God and their family!
What did I like? This was a very emotional book filled with the horrors of men on a rampage to avenge things that they thought they had been wronged by when the Confederates lost the war. You can understand what war does to men, how they felt the injustice of losing, but to take that out on the innocent that happened in their path is another thing altogether. The twins feel both this and the fact that these men extracted their losses on their own family in such a horrendous way.
What will you like? A well written and edited book with a powerful storyline that is so filled with emotional content, that it will grip your heart and anger like no other! The lead characters are just amazing and will capture you in a way that you want to become a friend and mentor to them, to help them understand the collapse of their world as it was. I for one wanted to ride with them and to help them both ways, getting justice for their family, and peace for their tormented minds. But be prepared because the author added some really surprising events that you just don’t expect! An excellent read and I am looking forward to the next book in the series, “Sinners’ Gold”.
“Let’s rid the earth of this demon scourge once and for all, brother!”
On their way home from school, twin brother and sister, Reno & Sara Bass, see smoke on the horizon. They rush home to find renegade Confederate marauders have laid siege to their family farm. The marauders have killed their mother and siblings, only their dying father draws breath. Before he passes, he makes Reno & Sara promise they’ll avenge the family. Despite their age, Reno & Sara accept the duty.
As the title, Vengeance Trail, would imply, Reno & Sara set off the kill the marauders, ably assisted by their dog, Apache—who is a character in his own right. This book is the first in the Avenging Angels series, and it’s a thoroughly entertaining western adventure from go to whoa. That shouldn’t be such a surprise, as the man behind the A.W. Hart pen-name is noted western writer, Peter Brandvold—author of over one-hundred westerns, including ‘Longarm’ and ‘Lou Prophet, Bounty Hunter.’
AWH. Has penned western action adventure, which begins with a young man and his twin sister survive a Civil War Outlaw Gang. The Gang have been traveling through Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado and other points on the border of Texas, Oklahoma and West Texas. A set of twins set outvto tame the outlaws by killing every one of them. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
Reno and Sara were twins and they found all their family dead and they knew who them men were who robbed them of their loved ones. It was a good thing that their Father had made sure that all of his children know how to shoot, ride and track whatever needed to be tracked. Vengeance was now on the move. Great read!!
Constant Action with Surprising Twists Hart develops amazing characters, some that readers can't help but love, others who prompt emotions only of hate for their evil ways. Constant action and excitement well worth reading!
What's not to like about his story if you like westerns and young hero's. Reno and Sara promise their dying father that they will follow the killers and take revenge. They relentlessly pursue the Devils Horde gang and kill the killers one by one.
The devils gang had killed there family. Their dying father had told to go find Ty. He would help them. Ty had given them good guns and horses. Now they were the hunters.
Very bloody a couple of young people, twins, boy and girl, took on a company of exconfederate soldiers and with the help of a tall black man killed them all. Yes, VERY bloody.
This was a good story that holds your interest and doesn't slow down till all the action finally comes to a stop. Well written and attention was paid to details.
While we now live in different times evil is as prevalent now as it was then. One has the desire to act, but it isn't as possible as it might once have been. Maybe that is why these tales are so fulfilling.