Longspur

by Mark Teppo

The frontier continues to move west, and what was a booming railroad town less than a year ago is little more than a dying company town now. In the desperate town of Citrine Springs, Elmore Stonebrook and Judge Willard Vernon Wallace encounter the Longspur Mining Company, which keeps the town alive by moving dirt from one hole in the ground to another.

This is the sort of fool’s effort that always hides corruption and malfeasance, and the Judge is eager to discover the true purpose of the mine.

What he finds is prophecy and blood sacrifice . . .

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 26, 2022

About the author

Mark Teppo has written more than a dozen novels across a number of genres. He's a book-seller, paper-hoarder, and troublemaker. Not necessarily in that order.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Teppo's second in this series didn't disappoint. It was long-awaited, and worth that wait. The relationship between Elm and the Judge continues to confound, but the reader can see what each brings to their friendship, ultimately making a complementary pair without being entirely complete.

The descriptions of the landscape are achingly real, myself having driven through prairie and plainlands hiding dark holes in what looks to be horizon-baring flatness. The eeriness of open grassland is inexplicable, and Teppo conveys it with spare, western prose.

Dr. Ambrose and his assistant Lily deserve a prequel. There is a mystery, there, and perhaps...monsters?

Looking forward to the next installment. No pressure.