Blaze! 15: Red Rock Rampage -- Ben Boulden

The latest entry in the Blaze! adult western series is set in Utah, where J.D. and Kate Blaze (two of the deadliest gunfighters the Old West has ever seen) are hunting a couple of train robbers for the bounty.  They trail them to a town named Small Basin, and that's where the troubles really begin.

The town has a corrupt sheriff, who's also one of the train robbers, and it's under the control of a renegade Mormon patriarch who has a yen for young wives.  He already has twenty wives, but they keep getting older.  When he kidnaps a young girl from town, J.D. and Kate decide to help out, with the aid of an interesting priest who knows a lot about cussing and shooting.  They have a plan, but of course things get complicated.  J.D. takes a whale of a beating, and there are several surprises along the way.  The book has some of my favorite things in it, a secret way into a hidden valley and a cave.  No quicksand, though.

This is a fine debut for Ben Boulden, with sharp action and well-observed descriptions.  I expect his name will become much more familiar to readers as he extends his writing career.