I'm a diehard Western fan. I will read just about any author that contributes to the genre, at least once to see if they live up to my requirements for a "good" western. Sean Lynch has gained a space on my list of authors to track. He took the time to build this first book in a series to develop our hero and tell us his story. Building a backstory like this insures readers will feel as if they were in the story, sweating and swearing right along with our destines to be sheriff good guy. Death Rattle is an excellent start to a new family dynasty of Westerns.

Death Rattle is a fast paced western that was an easy read as well. I liked the character Samuel Pritchard and his sense of justice. I can admit this was the first time I've read a western, but it will not be the last, as I want to read the rest of the series.

I enjoyed Death Rattle. I have not read anything by this author before. I think he has earned himself a new fan. Four stars.

Death Rattle (Penguin Random House 2019), Book 1 of The Guns of Samuel Pritchard series, introduces us to Samuel Pritchard and explains how he became the gifted killer of guilty men he becomes by the last page. We meet Pritchard as a teenager in post-Civil War South, where loyalties are divided within towns--and families--and the law is mostly who's wearing the badge. When he finds out his father has been killed by the town's lawmen, his family home burned down, instead of fighting for justice as his father taught him, he must leave the only town he's ever lived in or be killed.  Before he can come to terms with the truth that evil often wins even in a good world, he is left for dead more than once, his fiancée is killed in his arms by thugs with a grudge against him, and he discovers his God-given talent for killing. All this comes together to create a bigger than life Texas Ranger with a moral center that can’t be swayed and a soft spot for those who can’t take care of themselves. By the end of the book, Pritchard accepts that avenging evil and upholding justice is what he's meant to do with his life and to his surprise, it’s what he wants to do.

This is the start of a new series that promises to be powerful and satisfying, living up to all we expect of great Westerns. Highly recommended.

--review to be published on my blog, WordDreams 8-30-19

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

my first western for quite a while and my first from this author and hopefully not my last...

think north and south before the war...and how two boys went off hunting instead of school and then came home to find one dad hanged and their house burning... and his mom and sister were kept prisoners at the town hotel....

i found that i couldnt put this book down after the attempted murder and the life of those two boys who had to grow up quickly and how the war and becoming a texas ranger with a reputation of being a fast draw...

a fast and easy read that kept me glued to the end...wanting to find out how it went...loved the characters and cant wait for the next book in this series...

another author to add to my evergrowing collection of favourite authors