This Book is 'One Strange Puppy'
This is going to be a difficult book to review. On the plus side, the characters are strong and it had an interesting plot. Hannah and her two sisters arrive home, only to find that their mother and father (plus a worker and his animals) have been killed. The girls make a pact to find and get justice for their loved ones. As the oldest, Hannah decides to go to Boston, her mother's home town, to check on the family that was disgusted when their daughter (and the girls' mother) married the notorious gunslinger, J C Lawless.
When Hannah gets to Boston, she soon meets Slade Garrett, whose name she found on a burned piece of the Wilton-Humes stationary. She doesn't know if he is friend of foe. There's some kind of long-hidden problem between the Garretts and the Wilton-Humes. The author keeps referring to it without telling the secret. By the time the reader learns what it is, it is anti-climactic.
XXXXSPOILERSXXXXX Do not read this before reading the book; it will ruin the plot. I felt cheated at the end. The whole book talked about one killer. Suddenly, at the end, more killers were added (in order to continue the series). I thought it was a cheap shot that made me angry about the whole thing.
Also, the final scene in the train was bizarre. It was so unlikely that I couldn't swallow it.
Lawless Women
** 1. Hannah's Promise (1997)
2. Jacey's Reckless Heart (1997)
3. Seasons of Glory (1998)
