Thursday, September 3, 2015

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman



Isn’t that a unique cover? Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman is clearly a western and while I normally do not read westerns, I definitely enjoyed this one.  Aimed at young adults, the main character is 18-year-old Kate whose father is killed and their farmhouse burned. She swears revenge and disguises herself as Nate, taking off after the bad guys. 

There are plenty of clichés and stereotypes in this story: girl meets boy; boy helps track outlaws; girl and boy fall for each other, but overall Kate is a tough and resourceful heroine. Filled with action/adventure, violent shoot-outs and dust storms, and surprising twists right up until the end, Vengeance Road kept me reading and guessing. I especially enjoyed the details of the setting: post-Civil War (1877) and in the canyons and deserts of the Arizona Territory. Based in part on the legend of the Lost Dutchman gold mine, Vengeance Road received a starred review from Publishers’ Weekly.  

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