December 1, 2014
Things have been very quiet for Territory Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, but they know things can change quickly. And they do. A major bridge construction over the Rio Blanco is blown up, and two workers are killed. Appaloosa Sheriff Sledge Driskill and his deputies head to the site to investigate, but never make it there. Cole and Hitch are assigned to determine the fate of their brethren lawmen and to uncover who is responsible for the demolition of the bridge. Soon Cole and Hitch know who blew up the bridge but not why. As they investigate, Everett is smitten with the beautiful and mysterious fortune teller Seraphine, who provides cryptic visions of the future that initially make no sense but eventually are realized in most unusual ways. Knott's third shot at re-creating the Cole-Hitch partnership is by far the best. He's getting a handle on Parker's spare prose style, and the repartee between the two reflects the dry humor that helps bond them. There is also a very clever mystery mixed in, and the Seraphine subplot adds a Twilight Zone finish to an extraordinarily entertaining novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)