Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, both U.S. Marshals living in
the 1880s town of Appaloosa, are trying to find their way in
the ever growing town they've come to call their home. A lot
has changed since the wealthy Vandervoort came to town with
his brick business. However, Cole and Hitch have little time
for enjoyment as convicts have escaped a nearby jail. While,
they leave to round them up, one of the convicts, Driggs, is
in Appaloosa to seek some justice of his own. With lives at
stake Virgil and Everett must take care to catch Driggs
before it's too late.
REVELATION is the latest installment in Robert B. Parker's
Cole
and Hitch series. As usual Robert Knott has done an
excellent job picking up where Parker left off in this
gun-slinging western series about two U.S. Marshals. Virgil
and Everett still make a great team as they hunt down
escaped convicts around the fictional Appaloosa. They are a
no nonsense duo who say a lot in a few words, and they are
the perfect protagonists for a western. Virgil's
relationship with Allie helps to keep him human and gives
his character growth, while Everett's past is delved into
giving his character more dimension. Allie plays a small
role in REVELATION, and much like the previous Cole and
Hitch book, Knott is slowly turning Allie into a more
palatable character readers can better empathize with and
enjoy. Knott adds conflict to the story with Appaloosa's
development and the changes this causes to Virgil and
Everett's simple way of life. I like that the setting is
growing right along with the characters. This keeps the
setting of Appaloosa, which is the setting for previous
books, fresh and interesting. This change will also
foreshadow events to come.
REVELATION'S plot is fast paced and readers will keep
turning pages to discover the answers to all the plot holes,
such as Everett's connection to the antagonist, Driggs. For
the first time in a Cole and Hitch story another character's
point of view is used to tell some of the story rather than
just Everett's. Driggs, the antagonist's, point of view is
used to build up the suspense and mystery surrounding him.
While, Virgil and Everett have always dealt with immoral
villains, Driggs' mysterious persona adds a malicious tint
to his character that makes him extra dangerous. The plot
twist at the end is unexpected and wonderfully written, and
readers will be shocked with the outcome. REVELATION is
another exciting adventure in the Cole and Hitch series, and
western fans won't want to miss out on the adventure.
Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return to
confront an escaped criminal in the grittiest entry yet in
Robert B. Parker’s New York Times bestselling series.
Territorial marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch figured
things had finally settled down in Appaloosa when Boston
Bill Black’s murder charge was dropped. But all that changed
when Augustus Noble Driggs was transferred to a stateside
penitentiary just across the border from Mexico.
Square-jawed, handsome, and built like a muscled
thoroughbred stallion, Driggs manages to intimidate everyone
inside the prison walls, including the upstart young warden.
In a haunting twist of fate, Driggs and a pack of
cold-blooded convicts are suddenly on the loose—and it’s up
to any and all territorial lawmen, including Cole and Hitch,
to capture the fugitives and rescue the woman kidnapped
during their escape. But nothing is ever quite what it seems
with the ever-elusive Driggs. Finally free, he’s quickly on
his own furious hunt for a hidden cache of gold and
jewels—and for the men who betrayed him and left him for dead.
With an unlikely and unconventional Yankee detective by
their side, Cole and Hitch set off on a massive manhunt. As
horses' hooves thunder and guns echo deadening reports,
Driggs discovers one of the lawmen on his trail is none
other than a fellow West Point graduate he'd just as soon
see dead. Ruthless and willing to leave a bloody path of
destruction in his wake, Driggs seeks vengeance at any cost.