Tales from Deadwood: The Gamblers -- Mike Jameson

This is the second book in Mike Jameson's Deadwood series, and it's another good one. Jameson, in case you're wondering, looks a lot like this guy, and one thing I've always admired about his writing is his ability to keep a complex storyline running through a series of novels. Check out his Abilene series as by Justin Ladd, for example. Anyway, in this second Deadwood novel, several of the major characters from the first one put in only cameo appearances, while some of the ones in the background of the first (and some new ones) take over the main storyline. And there's plenty of story here. Al Swearengen and Calamity Jane have big roles, and Bill Hickock is prominent as well. Plenty of action, and you never know who's going to get killed off. As with the first book, the ending leaves you wanting to know more about who's going to do what to whom and about how things are going to work out. And of course you're still wondering about some of the characters from the earlier book. I'm confident we'll get back to them as the series unfolds, and I'm looking forward to going along for the ride. Pick up you copy of this one and the first one today.