When Robert B Parker died in 2010, I thought that that was the end of his characters. Fortunately, other authors have stepped up to keep his various series going, and that is a great thing for Parker’s dedicated readers. Spenser is, of course, the most famous and iconic of his characters, but I have a great affection for Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. These westerns are just plain fun, even this book, which is very dark indeed.

Robert Knott does a great job in capturing Parker’s style of writing, it never feels forced or stilted. Are these books exactly what Parker would have written? No, how can they be. But the books feel familiar, and that is all any can reasonably ask.

I don’t like spoilers so I am not going to give away the plot but suffice it to say that it is action-filled and exciting, albeit even darker than usual. Virgil and Everett are their usual heroic selves, and Allie is just as irritating as ever. The secondary characters are finely drawn, and the villains even more dastardly in this book than in some of the earlier ones.

This book is an excellent addition to the series, and worth reading.

I received an ARC through the publisher and NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Based In The Wild West of guns, horses, marshalls, and lawlessness, this is the story of two US Marshalls who go after a group of outlaws who broke out of prison. This is a time in America's past when there weren't enough lawmen, travel was slow getting from here to there and messages were sent my 'soundboards' which is like telegraph. Still, the human brain is clever and these two marshalls out-think and out-fight their adversary, though not without problems.

In a parallel plot, we see the jailbreak and what comes next through the eyes of one of the convicts. He's smart, patient, driven, and definitely has a goal that's rooted far in the past. He didn't just break out of jail; he has a plan. that he's out of his prison cell. The setting is authentic with plenty of period details that make readers feel at one with he story.

The setting is authentic with plenty of period details that make readers feel at one with he story. I wouldn't call myself a fan of Westerns, but had I known how good this book was, I would have picked it.

--this will be published on my blog March 3, 2017

The fifth in Mr. Knott's series is the best yet. As he drifts ever further from Parker's originals, he still manages to keep the essential flavor, Mr. Knott is keeping the series fresh and fascinating. Great dialogue and terrific new characters. Love this series and look forward to each book.

BookFilter Review: I love a good Western. So one of the many reasons I mourned the death of author Robert B. Parker was the very selfish one that he was just gaining steam on delivering a string of classic new novels about US Marshals Cole and Hitch. Terse, funny and violent, the series had reached four volumes, including one a year for the last three years of his life. If you haven't read them, by all means do. Now they've been continued by Robert Knott to modestly diminishing returns. This is the fifth he's penned, so Knott has now outstripped Parker though undoubtedly he would say he stands on the shoulder of what Parker began. One recent title ("The Bridge") had an unwelcome supernatural touch but we're back to down and gritty here, with the two lawmen tracking down escaped convicts, uneasily aware that one of them might be holed up in their hometown while they're away. I can't help loving these two men -- Cole with his iron-rod sense of right and wrong, Hitch's more expansive view of humanity (Cole is often left confused by his lover's mercurial ways), their banter about grammar (Cole does love to learn new words) and so on. They remain a treat, even if the story itself doesn't quite satisfy by the somewhat rote violent finale. Still, I'll almost certainly feel drawn to hear from them again when a new book comes out, which is precisely how and why a series like this continues long after the original author is gone. -- Michael Giltz

Robert B Parker’s REVELATION by Robert Knott

Since Parker’s death a number of professional writers of various reputation and skills have continued this various series. This is the first Robert Knott I have read; and i am moved to say he is no Ace Atkins, Reed Ferral Coleman or Michael Brandman. In fact, he is not as good as Tom Selleck who has done screenplay versions of some Jesse Stone books.

Knott has taken Parker’s characters and make them smart ass without being particularly smart. There is more one-line sniping than interesting repartee. As for action, this book reads as if it were written by a not-too-bright teen-ager who’d seen too many Quentin Tarantino movies.

Summary: Don’t bother