Tuesday 2 October 2012

Day of the Wolf

By Charles G. West
Signet, September 2012

When the mysterious mountain man Wolf comes down to a Crow village to return one of its wounded, the Crow wonder whether he is a man or a spirit. Wanting no part in the rampant war in the western plains, Wolf is set on returning to his mountain refuge. But his journey home is interrupted by three desperate women who need his help.

What Wolf doesn’t realize about these women is that they aren’t what most people would call ladies. His innocent association with these prostitutes leads to a near-deadly fight that ends with a charge of attempted murder. Chased by the most experienced deputy the marshal service has, Wolf leads him to the Black Hills, where their final showdown can only end in blood….

Charles G. West creates a superb air of mystery about his lead character, Wolf. Is he man or spirit? Where does he come from and who is he? Of course these questions are answered as the story evolves, and in turn lead to more questions about his future and that of the Black Hills as the discovery of gold lures all kinds of people there for different reasons including the three women who will have a big impact of Wolf’s life from the moment he finds them.

There’s plenty of action as Wolf finds himself being hunted by a variety of people, many of whom he has no idea of why they want to kill him. Wolf becomes the victim of circumstances that he cannot control and becomes the unwitting target for vengeance seekers. Even though he doesn’t understand why these people want to kill him he is more than able to deal with them.

And amidst all the struggles for survival could Wolf be on the verge of taking up a new way of life? Certainly one of the three women he helps hopes so even though he isn’t responding to her advances, doesn’t seem remotely interested in her. The outcome of this romantic storyline is never predictable and offers another intriguing story thread to this excellent book.

Well written this hard to put down book proves to be a very entertaining read that should appeal to all western fans. 

2 comments:

Thom said...

I feel that Charles West is one of the best western writers around today. Each of his novels are hard to put down and he has a knack for keeping the story line very entertaining.

Randy Johnson said...

One of my favorite western writers as well.