Cover Image: The Revengers

The Revengers

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Easy one of the best western novels I have read. Interesting characters, thrilling story and beautifully written. I highly recommend this book and I'm definitely going to check out the other books in this series.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this copy.

Was this review helpful?

Another fantastic addition this this series. Fast paced and character driven, McCauley continues to impress.

Was this review helpful?

Terrence Mc Cauley writes the kind of westersn you wish everyone would. The bad guys are bad......you can see and hear and even smell them from the page. The good guys are good....they are willing to lay down their lives in the protection of the law. There's realistic action, a hail of bullets will actually hit someone and the outcome is guaranteed. The good guy will be fighting bad guys in more books to come. But along the way, McCauley writes really good story lines where your mind's pictures can follow the action and take you to the streets of Silver Cloud, Montana. Another great western to add a notch on my holster.

Was this review helpful?

The Revengers by Terrence McCauley
Jeremiah Halstead #3

Once again Jeremiah is in the crosshairs of bounty hunters hoping to bag a 10,000 dollar payday due to Evil Zimmerman’s machinations. Killing two men in the opening pages sets the stage for more to machinations, murder, and mayhem to come in the rest of the book.

What I liked:
* Jeremiah: deputy marshal, stationed in Battle Brook with Joshua Sandborne, not quite himself after Zimmerman was pardoned in the last book, still with Abby, set on revenge and having Zimmerman taken down
* Joshua: deputy marshal, with Jeremiah in Battle Brook, intelligent, set on improving himself, thinking man, calm cool and collected, a great counterbalance to Jeremiah’s more tempestuous nature
* Doc Potter: true to his oath to save lives and protect his patients, wise, gives good advice, serious, focused on avoiding political situations
* Abby: Still in love with Jeremiah, has a rough few minutes here and there in the story
* That the bad guys were mostly thwarted
* That it felt true to the times
* Getting to see Mackey and Billy Sunday again as well as the parts they played in this story
* That it had all the elements of a good western
* Jeremiah’s growth and change by the end of the book
* Knowing there is another book to look forward to in the series

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Knowing that there are too many people who put self, power, greed, and revenge before anything else

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Pinnacle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Was this review helpful?

It was the late author Bill Crider, with his 'Outrage at Blanco' novel that made me love revenge stories so much and in away revenge stories for me will always be a tribute to him.

'The Revengers' checks off every box, as to what you would want in Western Lawman yarn and it my favorite read, so far in 2023. One of my favorite niches in the Western genre is the lawman novels, especially the ones with Deputy US Marshal.

Can the author Terrence McCauley ever write, he just brings his characters to life, even the bad guys like Zimmerman are believable, then US Marshal Aaron Mackey, his right hand man Deputy US Marshal just take over the story and along with Halstead young partner Deputy US Marshal Sandborne all make the intertwining storyline that much better.

You can't help but like Deputy U.S. Marshall Jeremiah Halstead, he's tough, damaged, smart, good with his guns and when he gets on your trail, your in trouble.

'The Revengers' picks up the continued story of the Outlaws Ed Zimmerman and Rob Brunet, it's not a standalone, you'll need to read both 'Blood on the Trail' and 'Disturbing the Peace' to understand the storyline, that grows with each installment in the Jeremiah Halstead Series.

Montana has just become a state, it finds that Zimmerman, along with Brunet receiving pardons from the outgoing Governor, through their lawyer, add to the mix the Riker brothers from Halstead's past, drunken hand picked citizen from Valhalla, Battle Brook turns on him, Halstead goes deep inside himself over the obsession of pursuing Zimmerman, he shuts out his girlfriend, partner, on edge, it's so bad that his bosses come and are on the verge of taking him home, then add some twist and turns suspense and best of all the author puts you the reader right in the pages.

The Author Terrence McCauley, is one of my favorite Western authors. If you're itching to give the genre a try, you can't go wrong starting with him, he'll get you hooked and horned into reading more in the Western genre.

Was this review helpful?

If Terrance McCauley is the new Elmore Leonard then I definitely need to read Elmore Leonard. In this book we meet Marshall Halstead he is the law in battling Brooks Montana and he takes his job seriously. Although some don’t respect him due to his half Anglo half Mexican heritage he still carries his self with dignity. He has proved more than once that he can back up and defend his self against any threat because in the past year a felon named Zimmerman put a bounty on his head and men have come and try to collect and more than once Marshall Halstead took each of them out. When he finds out that the outgoing governor has given Zimmerman clemency he is angry but that’s not the worst thing Zimmerman has created his own town in Montana right next to battling Brooks called Valhalla. To make his presents known and to get under Zimmerman‘s skin he shows up every morning at daybreak in stairs at Valhalla. He sees the guards patrolling the town and is just waiting for Zimmerman to make his move but when three Valhalla residents show up and try to kidnap his girlfriend Rosie he is angry but knows Zimmerman wouldn’t make such a move. He takes this opportunity to interrogate the only one healthy enough to talk. Randy and his pals will not be the last visitors from Valhalla and he will soon learn that Zimmermans reach is about to go much further. This book is fast pace action packed with some of the greatest gun battles I have read in a book. I am a big fan of the John stones and CJ Petit but OMG signed me up for Terrence McAuley‘s westerns. I have never read a showdown or I felt like I was going to start perspiring waiting to see who got hit next. What a great story what a great book what a great author! This is a book I definitely highly recommend a total five star western! I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Was this review helpful?

The Revengers by Terrence McCauley was a bit irritating and slow in the first part but then it caught speed and became a really good western story. It actually ended in a way that made me curious on what will happen next. So overall a good western. I only wish I had more time reading because I feel the need to try more of the authors other series, he sure can write. I must thank Kensington Books , Pinnacle and Netgalley for letting me read this book.

Was this review helpful?

I have read all the Westerns by Terrence McCauley. I have liked all of them for various reasons.
This one took a bit of a darker tone at the beginning and that threw me. Our hero, Jeremiah Halstead was obsessed with bringing down recurring villain, Zimmerman. To the point of neglecting all else.
This obsession kind of brought the book down for me.
After he realized what he was doing, the book came back up to normal levels and I blew through it with delight.
McCauley has a way of really getting you into the setting. Really getting you into the characters and the story.
I don’t know what he has planned next, but I know I’ll head towards it like I was being chased by a posse.

Was this review helpful?

I’ve enjoyed all of the Jeremiah Halstead Western series. U. S. Deputy Marshal Jeremiah Halstead is a tough, no-nonsense lawman who takes his job seriously, never quits until justice prevails, and cares little about what others think of his approach. In past books, he had that Superman thing going where Halstead could outsmart his opponents and surprise me with his cleverness, but in this book, The Revengers, #3 of 3 in the series, he not only faces a smarter-than-the-norm outlaw, Zimmerman, masquerading as a solid citizen, Halstead struggles to defeat internal demons that he can't seem to control. Maybe it's understandable. He'd caught Zimmerman once already, but the Montana governor set him free. Halstead knows the freed owl hoot will again break the law, but the wait eats at him, turning his life into a dark hole of depression with no room for friends, the woman he loves, or the job he has committed himself to. To the rescue are his two mentors, US Marshal Aaron MacKey and Deputy Billy Sunday (you'll remember from earlier books). With their help, he snaps out of his funk.

It's a good read once he pulls himself together, and if you don't mind dark stories, you'll enjoy the entire book. Me, because the first half was so depressing, it gets a 3/5, offset by an excellent second half. Overall: 4/5.

Was this review helpful?

'The Revengers is a great read with wonderful characters and fantastic world building. I was drawn into the story from the first paragraph and hated to put the book down even though I was unable to keep my eyes open. I picked up the book and was right back in thick of the story.

Was this review helpful?

Finding out who your friends are is important but no more important than knowing your enemies. US Deputy Marshal Jeremiah Halstead has been after a thug named Ed Zimmerman for a while and is on the verge of arresting him when he discovers that the Montana Governor has issued a pardon. Some enemies are obvious but others are somewhat hidden.

Halstead is not one to give up on a quest and makes his presence known as Zimmerman uses his ill-gotten wealth to take over a drying up mining town and renames it Valhalla. Every morning Halstead rides over and sits atop a hill overlooking the town -- doing nothing else. This angers Zimmerman and several attempts are made on the Marshal's life because of a $10,000 bounty on his head issued by Zimmerman.

The story gets a little involved but needless to say there are more deaths and involvement by various Marshals and Deputies. It comes to a head when finally evidence against Zimmerman surfaces and he is arrested. But the saying of being careful what you wish comes into focus as the new "bad man" is worse.

Intricate plot lines and even an open ended on for another book is what happens. Some lines are closed but others not so.

Was this review helpful?

this was a great third entry in the Jeremiah Halstead Western series, it had what I enjoyed from the previous entries and from Terrence McCauley. It does a great job in telling a story and works as a western. I always look forward to reading books by Mr. McCauley as I know it's going to be well-written. It left me wanting more in this universe and from the author.

"Mackey tossed the end of the rope to Zimmerman and the horse kept moving forward. None of the men moved until the animal was close enough to grab without crossing the invisible line Weasel had violated."

Was this review helpful?