Deadman’s Lament

Linell
Jeppsen
Genre: 
Historical

WESTERN:  Twelve-year-old Matthew Wilcox’s entire life changed the day his father died.  What was once a happy childhood suddenly becomes a fight to stay alive.  Soon poverty and desperation take over and Matthew finds himself ripped from everyone he loves by a vicious gang of outlaws and forced to witness the atrocities of its leader - until he is almost killed and left for dead.  Amazingly Matthew survives and grows to become a Sheriff sworn to defend those like his younger self.  There is one debt he has never settled, however, and when old memories become real, Matthew sets out to finish what should have been stopped so many years ago.

 

For readers who prefer a pure and unadulterated western, this one is the perfect choice!    It is everything a gritty cowboy story should be.  Ms. Jeppsen doesn’t pull punches or sugarcoat the harsh realities that existed in a time before law was the rule.  Sometimes those realities seems to pile up into a bit of overkill but each is true to the time.  The romantic thread was the overall story’s weakness.  The declaration came out of nowhere, and felt completely out of context, as there was absolutely nothing in the writing or characters actions to support it.  Fortunately the rest of the story was so riveting that one hardly notices, they are too busy biting their nails and turning the pages!  

 

Ruth Lynn Ritter