This has all the makings of a really good thriller: a lead character with special skills and determination, supporting characters with personality, a glimpse of a way of life unfamiliar to many mystery readers, and danger from bad guys and storms. There’s no lack of drama from a prison break, especially because one of the escaped convicts harbors a serious personal grudge against our hero. The protagonist, former military sniper Tommy Smith has so much expertise—he’s a crack shot, a rugged rancher, and a highly skilled tracker. I wish the last had been emphasized more, because it would have been fascinating to see more detail on how that works. Add in his spirited 10-year-old daughter and no-nonsense wife in law enforcement. Readers of C.J. Box and Paul Doiron will enjoy the outdoorsy setting.

The novel is just one ruthless editing pass away from realizing its 5-star potential. In particular, it needs to lose a ton of irrelevant characters. If a bunch of the escaped prisoners don’t even make it into the next chapter, we can do without a list of their names and details. In the first third of the book, when readers are trying to figure out who’s who, we don’t know which characters are extras, never to be heard from again, and which ones will figure meaningfully in the plot, so we’re forced to pay equal attention to people who are trivial. I was busy enough trying to map out the geographic landmarks, and then trying to distinguish a million irrelevant characters became annoying. Sometimes in dialogue sections it was not entirely clear who was speaking.

In the second half of the book, the pace and suspense pick up considerably, as Tommy fights the snow and the remaining bad guys while trying to keep his two horses and his friend safe. (Hilariously, we get the names of 50 unnecessary background characters, but the horse who figures prominently in this whole half of the book is never called anything more specific than the good red gelding.) The ending is good, if implausible, though it goes on a bit too long after the climax of the action. Again, nothing that couldn’t be fixed by a strong editor. I was tempted to give this novel 3 stars but rounded up to 4 because of its potential.

Thanks to Netgalley and Skyhorse Publishing for a digital advance review copy.

This was a really good read. I like the fact there was so much action in this novel. I love westerns books like this one that have you the pages turning fast to find out what was going to happen next. I loved the fact that this ft like a more modern western and there was a prison break that led to an exciting series of events. I thought the author did a great job at creating such a wonderful sense of atmosphere and tension. This made for an exciting roller coaster ride of a story. I loved the characters they were very exciting and well developed but there was a fair few characters and I sometimes had to seriously think who was who. The book followed well despite the confusion with characters. I can't wait to read more books from this series. I recommend reading this book especially if you love those fast paced westerns novels.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating a very thrilling story with plenty of action. I will be looking out for more books by this author. Hopefully with a few less characters. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/trail-of-the-fallen-by-bart-paul-skyhorse-publishing-4-star either under my name or ladyreading365. All links to my retail reviews are on my blog. If you quote me please don't use my last name just use ladyreading365 thanks

This story reads like an action packed wester thriller with twists, turns and adventure on every page. As a lover of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson I can see Bart Paul joining their ranks. The only disappointment for me in this book was that it took me about 70% of the story to finally get a handle on all the characters. In their intros, Paul is light on details, connections and back stories and with the task force, Tommy's family and several jurisdictions of law enforcement all introduced within a couple chapters of each other I had a hard time keeping them all straight and understanding the significance of them all. As the story picks up with Tommy involved in the chase of escaped convicts i enjoyed the thrill but often wanted more onnthe snippets of character development throughout. I think there is room for Tommy and Sarah to grow and develop in possible future books. Overall I enjoyed this book and would definitely pick up another by Bart Paul.

I stumbled upon this series a few years ago and have never regretted it, these books are great. Trail of the Fallen by Bart Paul is the fourth masterpiece about ex army sniper Tommy Smith. He lives in the sierra mountains on the border between Nevada and California and tries to make a living guiding people with horses in the mountains. In this book there is a prison break that will have devastating effects on this rural setting and will Tommy come out on top? Well do like I did and read the book, you will not regret it. I must thank Simon & Schuster, Arcade Crime, Skyhorse Publishing and Netgalley for giving me this advance copy out in stores August 23. I also thank Bart Paul for his imagination when writing these books.

Tommy is a great character, and his backstory provides so many opportunities for great adventures. The stereotypes portrayed in this story as the adventure begins bring down the credibility factor to make the story less than it could have been. I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and voluntarily provided an honest review.

Tommy Smith is a legend in Northern California and Nevada where he lives. He is a combat veteran who was wounded multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning home to help his former girlfriend escape her brutally abusive husband, and to help her father run his cattle ranch. Tommy occasionally hallucinates about his combat days in Afghanistan, although it isn’t clear just how that fact contributes to the story. He has now become a modern-day cowboy, riding horses, fixing fences, and herding cattle. He is also an expert tracker, hunter, and shooter.

There has been a massive prison breakout at Folsom Prison in California. The escapees are some of the baddest of the bad: murderers, rapists, and pedophiles. Tommy is convinced that they are being led by the man who was once married to Deputy Sheriff Sarah Cathcart, who is now married to Tommy. His name is Kip Isringhausen, and he was shot four times by Tommy a year and a half earlier but survived with a badly injured foot that has left him with a limp. He has vowed revenge against Tommy, and against Sheriff Mitch Mendenhall, who is running for reelection.

The US Marshal’s service has taken over the hunt for the escapees, who are leaving a trail of violence and death across California and into Nevada. The sheriff wants Tommy to be a part of the hunt, but the chief marshal does not agree. Tension and friction ensue. Tommy is convinced that the cons will travel to where he and Sarah live and work to exact revenge. The marshals do not believe this, so naturally the crooks head their way.

Complicating the plot is a Marine base where a number of advanced high-tech sniper rifles have been stolen, but never recovered. The Russians and the Chinese, among others, would pay dearly to get their hands on the rifles, so the cons, who know where they have been hidden, want to recover them before law enforcement or the Marines find them first.

It soon becomes apparent that the escapees are thinning their own ranks, murdering their fellow convicts to reduce the number of shares of the proceeds from the sale of the rifles. In the meantime, Winter is arriving, and some of the mountain passes have been snowed in, while some of the wilderness areas are only accessible by horse or snowmobile. Naturally, Tommy can track down the fugitives and he soon confronts them in the woods.

Amazingly, even though these ruthless, murderous thugs are heavily armed and greatly outnumber Tommy, they fail to kill him when they get the chance. This allows him to continue tracking them. Then they fail to kill him again. And then again. Ultimately, of course, all of them must die while Tommy must survive to continue his idyllic life with Sarah. It just isn’t believable. The character development is thin. The plot is way too complicated. There are too many characters. People behave irrationally, loose ends are left dangling at the conclusion of the story, and that conclusion is ragged.

The story is fast paced and detailed, but it is too far-fetched for me. Simplify the plot, reduce the number of characters, tell us more about Tommy’s family members, tie up the loose ends, and smooth out the ending. Only then will this be a four- or five-star novel. Feeling generous, I award three stars.

Paul's most recent entry in the Tommy Smith series is still a solid book, but one that is weakened by the all-too-common need that authors feel to make characters stupid. I had a hard time getting into this book because Tommy simply didn't seem like the same character I'd read about before. He's dealing with PTSD (which, while it might be logical, still felt like a step backward for this character, especially since it was tied to his Army service and hadn't been an issue before). Worse than that, the PTSD is an excuse for Tommy to make bad choices that the author makes essential to the plot. It's one of my least favorite ways of making a story happen. Other than that, readers will who enjoyed previous books in the series should like this one.

My thanks to Skyhorse Publishing, and to NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Trail of the Fallen.

2.5 Stars

A mass breakout at Folsom Prison shatters the mountain idyll shared by deputy-sheriff Sarah, and her husband, former Army sniper, Tommy. Although Folsom is a hundred fifty miles west, every new atrocity by the convicted killers places them closer and closer to Tommy and his family. Soon, Tommy discovers that the list of escapees includes a name he never wanted to hear again—that of Sarah's psychopathic first husband, whom Tommy had helped put in prison.

There was a lot to like about Trail of the Fallen. I loved the relationship shared between Sarah and Tommy. I very much enjoyed reading about the Eastern Sierra of California and the atmosphere of hunting killers during a blizzard was nerve-wracking! Sadly, I found myself unable to keep track of the massive number of characters and the more I read, the more confused I became.