Three-Legged Horse
Russ Hall
Five Star, Sep 15 2015, $25.95
ISBN: 9781432830656
A decade after the Civil War ended, cowhand Lucas Brent, Francis
Gallagher the eastern dime novel writer (as Ben Blunt), Preacher, a fancy lady,
teenager Justin Bodeau and his father ride the stage in Texas Hill Country when
outlaws attack it. The two company men,
Justin’s dad and the fancy lady die during the assault. Before leaving the robbers kill the horses
and leave no water for those still alive.
The four surviving passengers begin an arduous trek in the barren
isolated land when Comanche led by revenge-seeking Bent Feather capture them
and tie them to the ground so they can die slow deaths from heat and
dehydration. Rangers rescue the men and
take them to nearby Bentley.
In town the four go their separate ways with Justin finding his
Aunt Sara Bolger who takes him in to live with her. As the fifteen years old lad adjusts to his
new home and studies the map his father possessed that allegedly shows the location of gold cached during the War Between the
States, a cattle war heats up with hired professional gunslingers endangering
everyone in and around town.
Returning to post Civil
War Texas Hill Country (see
Sagebrush Westerns- Bent Red Moon), Russ Hall provides a tremendous 1870s saga
starring an intrepid teen supported by a solid cast who bring to life time
and place. Loaded with action from the
opening stagecoach robbery and never easing off the accelerator until the final
exciting climax; Mr. Hall transports genre fans to the era and locale; as we
feel the dry heat stumbling alongside the survivors during their harrowing trek.
Harriet Klausner
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