A review by martyfried
Hard Cash Valley, by Brian Panowich
5.0
After reading several books by this author, I expected this one to be good, and I wasn't disappointed. But it's pretty brutal, with a few killers that have no problem killing people that are not a direct threat to them, but are possible loose ends. Parts of it were so gory that it was kind of humorous. There was one guy who seemed like he could not be stopped, and reminded me of that Monty Python scene in The Holy Grail where King Arthur cuts off the guys arms and legs, but the guy still wants to keep fighting ("Nothing but a scratch!"). The guy literally had pieces of burned skin coming off when they tried to grab him, and he didn't let up.
But there was a lot of sadness throughout the book, even though it was somehow kept balanced by things like the interaction between Dane and Roselita, and didn't seem to go overboard. Perhaps the saddest part was when we find out how Dane's wife and daughter died, although Ned's story was pretty sad also.
Even though this is number 3 in the series, it can be read by itself, as it doesn't use any characters from previous books, at least not in any important way. I think Dane was mentioned in a previous book, but no in any detail.
But there was a lot of sadness throughout the book, even though it was somehow kept balanced by things like the interaction between Dane and Roselita, and didn't seem to go overboard. Perhaps the saddest part was when we find out how Dane's wife and daughter died, although Ned's story was pretty sad also.
Even though this is number 3 in the series, it can be read by itself, as it doesn't use any characters from previous books, at least not in any important way. I think Dane was mentioned in a previous book, but no in any detail.