I have no idea when I received this book, but I decided to read it and am I glad I did. The first book in the Jake Paynter series, it grabbed my interest from the first page and did not let go until I was finished. This is a new Author to me. The story is well written with a very good storyline.

While I haven’t read many historical fiction books set in the US and especially that time period, this story kept me entertained and engrossed. I loved the writing and description of the settings. Very vividly seeing and I may add that I have a wild imagination so it might not be exactly what I thought but it definitely made for a great time.
The main character is so well fleshed out and you could feel the frustration and feelings through the memories and all the drama that took place over the years to make him the man who was at the time.
It makes me want to read more stories like this in the future.
Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Dead Man’s Hand by David Nix
Jack Paynter #1

Stayed up in the dark to finish this book. Living in Lebanon. I usually make sure I know what time it is so I can be in bed before the electricity cut happens. Not last night…nope…no way…I had to find out what would happen so I sat here in the dark, used the flashlight on my phone when I realized the electricity was gone for the night, headed upstairs to read in bed, and hoped the battery on my little laptop would not disappear before I finished the story.

What I liked:
* The writing and eking out of tidbits about the main character that fleshed him out into a real person who became the man I admired and hoped to read more about…and hoped would live a long and prosperous life
* The descriptions of place and time
* Jake Paynter: complex, conflicted, conscientious, careful, cunning, cultivated, lethal, and a man with so much potential…
* The time period and memories of books read previously
* How Jake grew and changed eventually seeming to come into his own
* The glimpse into what I fear was the truth of that time period…cringeworthy at times
* Jake’s reason for leaving home and his reason for leaving the side he fought on during the American Civil War…and I felt sorry for him after reading what he endured
* Feeling a part of the narrative as is took place…though I am not sure WHO I was in the story
* Gus: comrade in arms of Jake’s who had a tough row to hoe in more ways than one
* Stacy Blue: a young woman who has seen more miles than most but on the trail leading others to their promised land
* Wondering if Stacy and Gus will end up together
* The forging of a brotherhood created by Paynter within the people on the way west that Paynter rode with
* That just enough but not too much of Jake’s past experiences were shared in the story…horrific but not eviscerating
Knowing that there are more books in the series to look forward to.

What I didn’t like:
* All that I was meant not to like…and there were quite a few people and events that were unlikable…

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks-Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review

5 Stars

Dead Man’s Hand tells the story of one man’s redemption. Jake Paytner is a loner on the way to his court marshall by way of traveling with a wagon train which the soldiers tasked with escorting him are protecting. Jake finds himself caring for those on the trail with him and doing what he can to protect them from men that he knows all too well.

I don’t read a lot of Western or Historical fiction based in the US, but I was drawn to this description. I really enjoyed this read and have already added future books in this series to my wishlist.

A turbulent time and place where lawlessness runs wild and it takes people full of grit to survive let alone tame it. Carefully crafted backdrop and authentic historical work surround this character driven western action tale of a man’s redemption against great odds.

David Nix is a new to me writer, but one look at the blurb had me excited to try his rousing western in the spirit of some of my favorite writers.

The book opens with a shocking scene when a white lieutenant shoots his commanding officer and then takes off on the run.

Months later, one of his former black soldiers comes upon him in St. Louis and brings him back for army justice. Jake has done some atrocious things in his past and is content to let justice prevail. Gus was doing as ordered and he is there to ride escort along with a few army soldiers to bring him back to Ft. Bridger for trial.

They are to accompany a wagon train headed to Idaho. The lead wagon is that of a Missouri senator’s son and daughter. There is a mystery about what their wagon is carrying. Ashley can’t stand Jake, but his sister is willing to see the good in Jake that he can’t see in himself. He is a murdering black soul and he prefers to keep good people at a distance. The rest of the train led by a veteran trail driver and his half- Shoshone daughter are all farmers looking for a new opportunity.

Jake gets to know and care about the members of the wagon train and is determined that the professional killers hounding them for whatever the snooty Ashley hides in his wagon will not harm these people. His experience fighting in the Civil War and on the frontier with his Buffalo Soldier unit stand him good. His determination to destroy the enemy is personal when he realizes the killers’ leader is a demon from his past. And, every day brings him closer to a court martial and the gallows.

Like any good western, there is a solid adventure plot thrumming through this book with desperate odds for the good guys and gals. And, there is also a stalwart, tarnished hero who stands between the innocent and those who would harm them.

The author went the extra step and colored in the lines to add complexity to Jake’s character with a slowly-emerging backstory. He didn’t stint on the side characters either. Jake thinks his past deeds are too evil, but his current actions and his more recent actions speak loudly so that Gus, his former sergeant who came for him, Stacy Blue, the trail master’s daughter, Rosalind Ashley, the genteel senator’s daughter, and the emigrating families all look to him as not just savior, but friend to be counted on. The characters were diverse and interesting depicting a cross-section of this period and place in the old West. There were race and class struggles and references to true events.

I also enjoyed that the villains were truly vile and capable so that the conflict was intense and kept me riveted. I liked that there was immediate danger, but also the slow build tension of knowing what awaited Jake at the end of his trail and wondering how that would turn out. The author paced out the story well. It had strong action, but also included time to develop characters, relationships, and give a strong nod to setting.

While the main conflicts were resolved, it was obvious there are some unresolved issues.

Dead Man's Hand by David Nix was a slow-paced read with decent action and a dialogue fair. What kept pulling back into the story, repeatedly, was the land, trail, trials.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a true old fashioned Western novel, and I was pleased when I received the review request for Dead Man’s Hand. There was a time in my younger days when I devoured books by Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour and it was nice to revisit the past.

While there are aspects of the novel that are so true to the parameters of a western: dusty trails, small towns, forts in the wilderness, horses and wagons, there are few purely good or bad guys.

Actually, I should amend that last statement because a couple of the villains really are truly nasty men with black hearts and black souls. However the good guys don’t wear pure white hats; theirs are shades of grey, making the characters very human. Jake and his friend, Gus, one of the former Buffalo Soldiers, have both done things that dig at their consciences and make them wonder if they still have one foot in the wrong camp. On the other hand, they are brave and good men with a deep loyalty to each other, as well as the people they meet on the wagon train.

The challenges faced by the caravan making its way across the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, on a path toward Oregon, are many – floods, threats by raiding Indians, deaths, and delays for broken wagons. However, those pale in comparison to the threat from Sally, the leader of a post-Civil War band of mercenaries who take advantage of the unsuspecting and raid farms and ranches and wagon trains to kill the men and rape the women and take whatever spoils they find.

Sally has a vengeful grudge against Jake, which increases his interest in attacking the wagon train. It’s not just about the possible gold in one of the wagons. It’s personal. Not much about those attacks is sugar coated in the story, and the reader is privy to the horrible things that some people will do to others – just because they can.

Jake is a prisoner, being taken to a military court-martial after killing a superior officer. He knows that he’ll be hung after the trial, and through most of the journey, he vacillates between accepting that fate or giving in to the temptation to escape. His friends, Gus and Stacy, the wagon-masters’ daughter who is half Shoshone, certainly wish for the latter and make many offers to assist. Still Jake resists. The goodness within him will not allow him to leave the people in this wagon train to fend for themselves against a marauding band of outlaws.

While reading, it’s always an added pleasure to come across a well-turned phrase that brings a smile, as well as a tidbit of wisdom worth a moment of added consideration. I highlighted several in this book, including:

“Her comment raised a smile from him that hung on his lips like a wisp of cotton before the breeze seemed to sweep it away.”
“A journey interrupted is a journey forever unfulfilled. The only solution was to stand again, lean into the wind with intention, and continue.”

The second quote could well serve as the theme of the story and the motivation for the characters, especially Jake. His personal journey was toward becoming a better man. That motivation and characterization worked perfectly.

The only minor issue I had with the novel was the repetition of Jake’s mental self-flagellation over his past. For me, his musings about all that he’d done, and what had been done to him, were too frequent and presented with too much self-reflection. While some of that awareness is necessary to show his character arc, I thought the abundance of it didn’t fit the man who was so emotionally closed off because of his past.

However, that issue is a personal one and other readers might not see it as problematic. Also, I can say that the issue didn’t take away my enjoyment of Dead Man’s Hand, which is written in descriptive narrative that brings the setting and the action to life, and gives the reader characters worth knowing and following through this adventure.

This was the first time I've read a book by Nik James and was pleasantly surprised! I loved this Western historical fiction, Caleb Marlow is a great character, mysterious, morally gray , yet determined and sweet. It's a lot more realistic than having a white/black character that i usually find in westerns. I adored him! The storyline keeps you on your toes and makes this a page-turner.

Good read. I grew up reading Louis Lamour, Luke Short and pretty much all the western authors out there but I like the way those books were written. Sometimes you knew the guy was upright from the get go and was just standing for what was right, but sometimes you were introduced to a guy not in favorable circumstances but it took a while to figure out how they came to be in that situation, and a lot of times those were the guys you liked best, and occasionally the guys you were led to believe were upright were actually the snakes in the grass and the lone wolf the one fighting for right….no matter the consequences. I will not give any spoilers there, I will just say that I really enjoyed this one and aside from a couple instances of being a little “wordy” or fancy talking for the character in that setting, (extremely mild quibble on my part 🙈) I thought was very engaging, believable storyline and I definitely look forward to more from this author.

Dead Man’s Hand is a fast paced historical western whose hero is a complex man with many demons. At seventeen, Jake joined up with a band of civil war raiders where he committed atrocities that have stained his soul.. When his commanding officer issued an order that broke the camel’s back, Jake put a bullet in his head. Jake finds himself in manacles on his way to hang. An I’ll fated wagon train under attack proves the kind of character Jake really is. Like any good western, the story contains the prerequisite tortured soul of a hero, a love interest who is way out of league, a few good friends, and the murderous villains out for their souls. Action packed with likable characters, the story is a must read for western fans. Here’s hoping Jake gets a long lived series! My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

“Dead Man’s Hand” is a first time read by David Nix, new author to this reader. To date, I’ve never read any novels written in this genre and welcomed the opportunity to read this story.

Being a lover of television westerns, this story did not disappoint. This was a quick read for me and I thought the main character, Jake Paynter had a strong personality and sense of conviction to stand up to his enemies as well as make friends along his journey as a man although he is haunted by his childhood and what he has done in the Civil War. He wants very much to be a loner, however circumstances have him on a wagon train to his destination to be hanged for killing his captain. Despite wanting to isolate himself from everyone on the train, he finds himself playing a lead role to get these people to their destination unharmed.

There is a host of supporting characters that make this story believable. I loved the wagon trail adventures and how despite the differences among those traveling (i.e., different nationalities), they banded together to defend and protect one another. It is this collectiveness that causes Jake to lean on others and friends to find salvation and overcome his past.

Although there were some touchy parts with the writing, David Nix plotted out a descriptive novel detailing the scenes, people and the West. It had its share of action adventure and twists throughout the story. Entertaining and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This book is outside my normal purview, but when I received an email with the widget, I couldn’t say no. Jake is a wanted man and is also responsible for guiding a wagon train across the broad midsection of the country.
What I loved the best about this book is all the descriptions of the landscape along the trail. I could see myself in all the places the author mentions. The action was decent and the dialogue fair. What kept pulling back into the story, repeatedly, was the land, trail, trials.
My heart belongs out west. Until I can be there, I’ll Jace to satiate my western quests with books like this.