Reckoning at Rainrock -- Wayne Dundee

Wayne Dundee's gotten into westerns, and he's writing some fine ones.  The latest is Reckoning at Rainrock, which will be published in June.  Lone McGantry, the main character from Dundee's earlier Dismal River is back, and this time he's asked to bring a young woman back to town for a trial.  The twist is that while the young woman is a fugitive, she's innocent.  Sort of.  She's been convicted of killing her father, but this retrial will prove that she had good reason for what she did.  Since the woman's lawyer knows where she is, it sounds simple enough.  It's not.


First of all, the woman's working as a prostitute, and her employers aren't going to let her go easily.  Then there's the weather, which is practically a character in itself, and a good one.  I got cold just reading some of these pages.  The local law isn't convinced that there's evidence to prove the woman's innocence.  And of course there are people who have a lot to lose if the earlier verdict is overturned.  They're going to do what they can to stop the retrial from taking place.  


Dundee takes us through these difficulties in swift, unadorned prose that fits the subject matter perfectly.  This is a topnotch western by a writer who knows the territory.