The Samaritan's Pistol

The Samaritan's Pistol

By Eric Bishop

Book Blurb:

Even among his small town neighbors, Jim is a content man. Despite the emotional baggage from his time serving in Desert Storm, he successfully runs a ranch, owns several beautiful horses, and makes extra cash as a wilderness guide for wealthy tourists. He's a modern-day cowboy. That is, until he runs into an ongoing mob-hit while riding in the mountains. Now, his most beloved horse is bleeding to death, three mobsters are dead from his smoking gun, and a wounded criminal is begging for his help. Jim has to make a decision. He can either high-tail it out of there, or accept a tempting offer made by the criminal-a promise of millions in stolen mafia cash for any help he gives. Of course, only an idiot would turn down such an appealing offer when they're marked for death anyway. Besides, Jim's good nature cannot allow him to leave someone for dead, even a criminal. Soon, Jim finds himself on a trip to retrieve a truckload of stolen money near the Las Vegas strip, right under the Mafia's nose. But even if they escape with the cash, will Jim's conservative neighbors provide sanctuary for their local Samaritan, and how far will the mafia go for revenge?

Why did I read this book again?

Okay, so I read the book because I signed up to have Eric as a guest blogger.  I kind of knew what the book was about before I started, but was pleasantly surprised I enjoyed it so much.

4 out of 5

Characters

Each of the characters had a distinct and interesting personality.  This is a first book, so there was a lot of ground work laid for some of the more minor characters, which was a little distracting, but I know that it will all come to fruition in the subsequent books, so I was okay with it. The main character, Jim, is a guy you would hope to have at your back in a fight.  His ranch hand, Brody is the guy you NEVER want to come after you (and not just because he's old and grouchy) and Larry is the guy who can always make you smile.  

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes, I did care.  I may have been the most upset when Jim had to shoot his own horse, after that I was more than happy to read on and find out what happens to the scum mob guys who killed the horse. Jerks.  And Jim makes a great protagonist to follow. He's not an angel, but he's a good guy who makes smart choices. At no point in the book did I want him to die, which is great! ;)

5 out of 5

Plot Holes

No plot holes that I recall. No thing that screamed at me. Like I said, there was a lot of ground work laid for the rest of the series, so the end of the book felt incomplete because a few of those threads just got started and certainly didn't have a chance to go anywhere. But no holes.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

When the tension was there, it was awesome. Part of the appeal of the book is that Jim lives in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, so it's pretty relaxed. It was kind of fun to go from one extreme to the other. There were a few places where I thought the relaxed went on a little long, but I'm an action girl.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

Not a whole lot of "wow" stuff going on in this book, it didn't need it.  The characters really drove the plot, which is a refreshing change from most of the movies I've seen lately. So I can't give this a 5 or anything, but Eric wrote a story that didn't need wow.

4 out of 5

The End

Ah, the end.  Well, the climax of this book was awesome! All sorts of manly-ness getting flung around while there were bullets and cars and all sorts of cool things.  Jim is one guy I would mess with. Loved how the conflict between Jim and the mob boss got packaged up.

Climax good. But I felt like the book went on a little too long after that. I expected more mob guys to jump  out and attack, but they didn't.  The wrap-up was nice-everyone got their time and resolutions-but in my opinion it was too long. 

3 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I honestly didn't think I'd love this book, but I did!  Like I said above, the main character and two of the side characters pulled me into the story. I just got married (hello distractions) and I still finished this book in good time. The writing is great.

4 out of 5

That's 32. A brown belt!

If you like a little action, with some western, some thriller and even a bit of romance in your stories, check out this one!