Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Fistful of Legends - Legend 7: "More Than Meets the Eye" by Gillian F. Taylor

When I read a cowboy yarn, I’m looking for action, conflict and memorable characters. Well, I found all that and more in “More Than Meets the Eye”, one of the 21 new tales of the Old West in A Fistful of Legends.

Along with the essentials, you see, author Gillian F. Taylor delivers some of the most vivid word pictures I’ve yet to come across.  Instead of racing through descriptive passages (as I sometimes do) I found myself lingering - and seeing - the western landscape along with bounty hunter Jonah Durrell.

Yes, the hero of this tale makes his living tracking fugitives from the law, but, as the title implies, there’s a lot more to him than that. Jonah’s mission here is to bring back a mine worker who stabbed and killed a man over a ten-dollar bet in a dice game. Durrell sports elegant duds and a double rig of pearl-handled Smith & Wessons with fancy scrollwork. That says something about his character, to be sure, but the man’s true mettle is revealed only after he catches his man and his hauling him in for trial.


Gillian F. Taylor is the author of twelve Black Horse Western novels so far, with more on the way. Visit her website HERE. One of her recent books, Two-Gun Trouble, features bounty hunter Jonah Durrell.

6 comments:

I.J. Parnham said...

Lulu are currently offering 10% off the anthology with a special code. Details at http://ijparnham.blogspot.com/

Deka Black said...

Bounty hunters... a very interesting topic. There is a lot of legend. but what makes me wish to know more is te real ones.

David Cranmer said...

A very fine story.

Ron Scheer said...

Really fine review. The well-chosen details sell it. Thanks.

Reminds me to watch more of the first season of "Wanted Dead or Alive" I just picked up at K-Mart for five bucks. Steve McQueen makes bounty hunting look so cool.

Evan Lewis said...

FIVE BUCKS?? Thanks, Ron! I'm on my way to K-Mart.

Ann Littlewood said...

And a GIRL wrote it? Sheesh!

You can never go wrong with Steve McQueen. Well, maybe with the Thomas Crown Affair....