Devil’s Ride West (Jake Paynter, 2)
This second Jake Paynter Western thriller finds our hero in the Wyoming Territory in 1869 with a $1,000 bounty on his head. The area is full of ranchers, and more recently, immigrants searching for gold. Although Jake is trying to hide out and escape capture, he cannot resist helping his friends Stacy Blue and Gus Rivers, who ask him to help solve a mystery. Miners in South Pass City are getting killed and the town marshal refuses to investigate. He believes it is just wolves. Stacy and Gus think otherwise, so Jake spends his days holed up inside a mine hiding and his nights investigating the killings. As Jake prowls the area, he encounters many settlers, who have all heard stories of the infamous former soldier-turned-hero. This makes it hard to stay hidden, especially as he gets closer to solving the mystery. Danger lurks in every shadow, and readers are kept on the edge of their seats.
Nix does a good job weaving tension, action, and just a touch of romance in this crime thriller. Between dark, dank mines and wide-open fields, readers are treated to numerous western scenes. These, accompanied with many delightful side characters, bring the West alive. Readers don’t necessarily need to read the first book in the series to jump into the action, but I think it helps to better understand Jake and his past. Readers can continue the fun by reading To the Gates of Hell, the third in the series, also out this year.
