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Reviewed By Cecelia Hopkins
The desert winds brought the marshal to town.
He rode out of the wilderness, his duster flapping like black wings, his hat concealing his face except for the scraggly growth across his chin. A pearl-handled Colt rested in the holster at his hip, and he seemed more shadow than man in his black clothes. Like all great things signaling a shift in the world, he arrived unnoticed by anyone, barely visible through the dust storm.
The Seige by Linda Thackeray introduces Marshall Kris Jensen, who prevents the lynching of the town’s African American healer, Sam Rainey. Together with bounty hunter Flynn Brenner, Kris is persuaded to stay and guard the perpetrators. However, the arrival of refugees from the outskirts alerts Kris to the possibility that the whole town of Mimosa is under siege. Greenhorn Cody Griffin, scholar Isaac Sandor, Jack Fenwick, and gambler Adrian Sharpe are among the few able-bodied men available to mount a defense against mercenary ex-Miramón soldiers, paid to corral and kill the residents. The judicious use of dynamite turns the tide of the battle, but a fierce campaign must be waged before morning. The town endears itself to the itinerants, who decide to settle and seek justice.
The Seige is a fast-moving, exciting Western novel set during a turbulent period of history. I really enjoyed the way the author established a likable set of characters. Each defender had faults but grew and developed throughout the story until I hoped that they would decide to stay in town. I also liked the female characters, who were portrayed as strong women, risking their lives to protect their families and give loved ones a chance of survival. I liked the way the Native American village was represented as self-governing, and while there was an awareness of racial injury, there was also a sense of reconciliation in the face of a common threat. The Seige by Linda Thackeray creates an action narrative that is informed and true to the Western genre.
The Siege is the first installment in the relaunched series - The Mimosa Tales - available here on Amazon.