A Historical Western Adventure book by James Leonard
Everett Battle wants a new life. Russell Pyle just wants him dead. When Everett arrives in Hays City, Kansas, he steps into the center of an ongoing feud and becomes its latest target. Pyle wants what isn’t his, starting with the land and cattle from the Manus ranch. But the Manus brothers aren’t ready to give up without a fight. They just need a little help going from rancher to gunman.
When Everett offers to help them, he inadvertently ups the stakes, turning the battle into a war. Unfortunately, all wars have victims. Now the entire Manus family is in danger, including Linda. She’s beautiful and kind, the sort of person Pyle and his men think they can control. Everett won’t let that happen. Determined to save her and the Manus family, Everett launches into a fight where he’s outnumbered and outgunned but not outwitted.
Time is ticking, and he has to move fast if he wants to see Linda alive again. Can Everett save everything he holds dear before Pyle rips it all away for good?
I enjoyed this book much better than the last one. I thought it dragged to slow however, this one was full of adventure. I loved the Everett Battles story. The odd thing here is that the Manus brothers had an old school friend by the name of Robert Kittredge or Kirtridge. He was working for the evil rancher and turned bad. He tortured the Manus brothers and held them captive. Johnny, the younger brother, finds a way to shoot him in the groin twice and kills him. The next thing you are reading that the same character jumps on a horse, and travels to capture the mother. Johnny finds revenge but then he doesn’t???? I really shouldn’t have given 4 stars. Robert is resurrected from the dead and we never hear Linda’s story, Weird, weird, weird. Everett Battle is a good story but I wasted much time going back to reread who the character was that was shot in the groin twice. Boo.
I have read many of the James Leonard westerns and even though they pretty much resemble one another they are fun reading. The characters are good, the stories are good, the action can be slow at times but mostly it is good. Even though this book had somewhat all the good things I have found in others, it seemed it was written in a big hurry! Everett Battle and the other characters did so many dumb things it became laughable! Plus the part where the outlaw Bobby Ketterick gots shot twice in the groin with a 44, lays screaming on the barn floor, blood pouring out, and then magically appears healthy and ready to ride to kidnap the boys mother in the next chapter! LOL! This read was just all over. But I have already purchase the next two books in the series and I plan on reading them both. Hopefully the boys can get it together!
I've read all of Mr. Leonard's books to this point in the series, and they have all been edited satisfactorily. Not so with this story.
As far as the story goes, it was very satisfactory. It makes me jealous when someone is able to come up with so many ideas. I've always wanted to be able to write creatively, but it wasn't meant to be. Training manuals, operations manuals, and human resource manuals seem to have become my specialty. Oh well, we're all destined to find that you can't have everything.
If you can handle the bad editing, I still recommend this as a tale worth reading.
I like my heroes to make good decisions. The Manus brothers and Everett Battle repeatedly do stupid things throughout this book and rely on dumb luck to save them. Johnny goes onto a hostile ranch bristling with murderers alone. Hart and Everett fall for a poor ruse and give chase, leaving Johnny alone. In the final gunfight Everett doesn't take Linda's rifle, instead going against sixteen gunmen with just his pistol. Idiots like these wouldn't last long