Apache Sundown

Shadow Rider #2

by Jory Sherman

Driven equally by his duty to his nation's leader and by his need to avenge his father's murder, Zak Cody is on the trail of the gold-hungry killer who made him an orphan. But while he's taking down his adversary's hired guns every step of the way, their leader, Ben Trask, continues to elude him. And Trask is brewing up a poisonous stew of betrayal, death, and lies with the powerful help of someone at Fort Bowie—a plan that will bring about the terrible slaughter of a proud but volatile native people. The death storm is rolling relentlessly in—and Cody must battle time, bullets, and savage nature to reach the one man who might help him prevent a massacre—the warrior named Cochise.

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2007

About the author

Jory Sherman was born in Minnesota and grew up in West Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. He was a magazine editor for a time and had some of his work published, including some poetry, short stories and articles. Sherman had a friend who owned a publishing company and asked him to write a novel for the company. From that offer came five more novels, all written in one year. He wrote the supernatural mystery series, "Chill," which was somewhat revolutionary for the times, but which earned him an eight book contract. He then came up with the idea for "Rivers West," a series which had each book written by a different western author. Then came the "Baron Saga," the first of which was "Grass Kingdom" which earned Sherman a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. Sherman has also won the Spur Award for his contribution to Western Literature.

Reviews

[HornFan2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was Bill Crider's 'Outrage at Blanco' that made me love revenge stories so much and can't thank him enough for that.

Jory Sherman's one of my favorite Western authors, could he ever put you into the wild and wooly old west with his writing. Never read anything by him, were he didn't have it masterfully paced, you were never bored, typically themed good verse evil and the good guys/gals always won.

It's set in Arizona territory, between Tucson and Fort Bowie, that involves the Apache tribe, the US Army and corrupt group of citizens who want the tribe gone. Zak Cody, aka 'Shadow Rider' is part Cheyenne has credentials from President Grant, basically working undercover and his reward for saving the life of General Crook during the Civil War.

'Apache Sundown" picks up where 'Blood Sky at Morning' ends, with the Shadow Rider using bad weather to blend in with Track and Ferguson's gang and is able to free kidnapped Lt. Tim O'Hara.

Along with the just rescued Lt. Tim O'Hara, his sister Colleen, you have to soldiers Rivers and Scofield, they seek high ground to get safely away flash flooding due to the bad rain storm and lose time in the pursue of Ben Trask group. While just down the road Trask and Ferguson, along with some of their men, hole in an Adobe hut, which they'll barely survive and which the author describes in vivid detail.

While the writings typical of what you get from the author Jory Sherman, the ending is a little rushed, probably would have been better to add pages and added some more of the descriptive detail that he was known for.

Definitely if you ever want to try a Western, then Jory Sherman's one of the best ones to hook you into liking Westerns and if you already a fan, then you know what a legend he is in the genre already.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to discover a new western writer, as so many are good storytellers with bad writing skills.
Sherman writes very well and his story is smooth and chapters short.
Worth a try.

[David Burnworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zac Cody continues is mission to end the man who murdered his father. Ben Trask, the criminal who murder Cody's dad, continues to elude Cody, but luck can not stay good forever and when it ends the blood flows. Thanks to a famous Indian Chef, Cody gets the help he needs to end all of Trask's dream to find the gold that he seeks, ending in a beautiful Apache Sundown.

[Karen Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

I just stumbled upon this author. Absolutely wonderful writing! He really portrayed his bank character very well. His character was loving, respectful, wise, and very very good at his job.

[Tyler Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

It amazes me how Jory Sherman is able to turn a rather bland plot into an interesting, descriptive and exciting story. He does so well with believable dialog, descriptive landscape and the hardship of travel with minimal rations.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in the Shadow Rider series. A little slow in some areas, but overall, I liked it.