Freezeout!
J. D. Harkleroad
Reviewed by S. M. Ballard
Stove in by a bronc, let go from his job and on the verge of slow death by starvation and the whims of nature gone winter wild, Race Evans manages to find his way through a vicious snowstorm to Josh Hensen’s Rafter 3-H Ranch just south of the Utah border in Arizona.
Race finds the ranch embroiled in troubles of its own, not the least of which is Kell Farley, a rustler Race once shared a cell with in the Wyoming Territorial Prison.
Race’s ambivalent feelings for Hensen’s headstrong sister, Sage further complicates matters while adding a dimension to his life he’s never before experienced and for which he isn’t sure he’s ready.
Should Race Evans pack it in, leave the ranch and return to his old way of life or stay to protect Sage’s interests in the Rafter?
J.D. Harkleroad sure knows her way around a western. Her knowledge of ranch life shines through in every page while her love of the country about which she writes is obvious in her richly evocative descriptions, especially of the futile attempt to drive cattle into the Grand Canyon during the blizzard of 1887.
FREEZEOUT! is a fast paced western adventure with a great plot to back up the action. The characters are fully faceted individuals with personalities and quirks, real people these and not cardboard cutouts.
FREEZEOUT! is a must read.
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About the Reviewer:
S.M. Ballard shares a ranch in Pearce, Arizona with her husband, Brian. She is a member of the Society of Southwestern Authors, the Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West. Her work, both fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Chronicle of the Old West, Out West, Voice in the Desert, Wild West and War Journal. She is a regular contributor to The Tombstone Times.
Ms. Ballard is the author of BORROWED TIME and HOLLIDAY IN TOMBSTONE, the first two books in her John Henry “Doc” Holliday trilogy. Book three, ROUGH RIDER, is due out in 2009.
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