Vengeance Road,
Erin Bowman, 327 pages
Kate Thompson’s father has been murdered by the notorious gang
of outlaws the Rose Riders, and she is determined to get her revenge, no matter
the cost. But she finds mentions of a lost cache of gold in her father’s diary,
and her quest for vengeance risks becoming sidetracked by gold fever.
I’m not sure I liked this one. For a book with a protagonist
as single-mindedly focused on vengeance as Kate is supposed to be, Vengeance Road meanders quite a bit and
ends up feeling like a cautionary tale on the risks of greed. The action scenes
felt flat, and although it seems Bowman tried to avoid tired, racist tropes
when dealing with the Apache who live nearby, I’m not sure she succeeded, which
is of course always a risk when writing a Western. The romance felt uninspired
as well, until the end when it redeemed itself somewhat. I’ve heard good things
about the standalone sequel, RetributionRails, but I’m not sure if I feel like giving it a try.
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