This is the first book I’ve read in this series, yet it easily worked as a standalone. However, like most characters in a series, I’m sure I would have understood the MC a little better had I read earlier books.

Since I rarely read the synopsis before starting a book, I was taken aback to learn that the MC is an assassin, but this isn’t a random hit. The people she kills must deserve death. Thank goodness. ( I couldn't hold my hands back from typing that last sentence..)

But her latest job is disturbing her. In all aspects, the person she's instructed to kill appears to be a genuinely nice guy.

This was a fast read that was enlightening and thought-provoking.

Concerns
Though it was a well-written book and entertaining, it almost felt like the story was written around an agenda of controversial subjects. Not that there’s anything wrong with learning something or feeling you should do a little research, but it felt a bit heavy-handed.

Final Thoughts
The book is enlightening, entertaining, somewhat political, and full of twists and romance. If you’re looking for an unusual story with a female assassin, a story that’s apt to leave you mulling over certain things, don’t overlook Dead West by Linda Richards.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy.

A hired killer falls in love with her intended target, a kind rancher committed to saving wild horses. Can she protect him from those hired her? Thrilling!

Seit geraumer Zeit habe ich den Newsletter vom Oceanviewverlag abonniert, und so bin ich auch auf dieses Buch gestoßen. Ansonsten würden mir hier in Deutschland die Veröffentlichungen von relativ kleinen US-Verlagen völlig entgehen, und den hier mag ich 😉. Hier gibt’s viel Krimis abseits vom Mainstream. Jetzt also Dead West. Das ist der dritte Band einer Serie, macht in dem Fall aber nix, fällt auch nicht auf, kann komplett alleinstehend gelesen werden.
Erzählt wird aus der Ich-Perspektive der Protagonistin, der Auftragskillerin. Ihren echten Namen werden wir nie erfahren, den hat sie vor langer Zeit eh aufgegeben, und ihre neue Identität, das ist nicht sie.
Ja, und die namenlose Lady bekommt einen neuen Auftrag. Wir begleiten sie bei ihren Vorbereitungen, und dann lernt sie ihr Opfer kennen. Das ist eigentlich nicht so gang und gäbe, hat sich hier aber ergeben. Und noch etwas ergibt sich: man ist sich sympathisch. Sogar mehr als das. Cameron, Rancher in Arizona, ist nicht nur gutaussehend und charismatisch, sondern er hat auch eine Passion, und zwar den Schutz der wilden Pferde im Westen der USA. Damit beeindruckt er sie, und wider Willen verliebt sie sich in ihn. Und während sie noch überlegt, wie sie aus dem Auftragsmord wieder herauskommen könnte, beginnen sich die Ereignisse zu überschlagen: Cameron wird entführt, und die Ich-Erzählerin wechselt die Seiten: ab jetzt beginnt die Jagd auf Camerons Gegner, und es wird spannend und hochpolitisch – Camerons Einsatz für die Wildpferde ist nämlich kein privates soziales Vergnügen, sondern ein Politikum, an dem viel Geld hängt. Und die Feinde sind mächtig: es geht nicht nur um Mustangs, sondern auch um Menschenhandel. Es bleibt nicht viel Zeit, die Hintergründe aufzudecken…..
Viel mehr will ich gar nicht verraten. Aber eins ist klar: das war mal wieder ein richtig guter Krimi mit einer coolen Protagonistin. Ich meine, ich habe glaube ich noch nie aus der Warte einer erfolgreichen Auftragskillerin ein Buch gelesen, das hatte schon was. Man fragt sich ja automatisch, was für Leute sind das, und hier wurde in einem zweitem Erzählstrang auch ein Teil der Frage beantwortet. Natürlich hat die Dame ein Vorleben, und zwar kein wirklich schönes, und je mehr man so über sie erfahren hat, desto sympathischer ist sie mir geworden. Über ihren Job lässt sich ja trefflich diskutieren 😉, aber abgesehen davon fand ich sie nachvollziehbar und authentisch. Und während ich das schreibe, frage ich mich gerade, was das über mich aussagt, wenn ich mit einer Auftragsmörderin sympathisiere 😊, aber daran sieht man, dass die Autorin mich abgeholt hat.
Der Roman ließ sich flott lesen, und das Spannungslevel war jederzeit hoch. Ich wiederhole mich, war gut gemacht.
Klare Leseempfehlung!
Herzlichen Dank an den Verlag und an Netgalley für das Rezensionsexemplar!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
I didn’t know what to expect from this book. I also didn’t know it was a series but still a standalone book.
The main character kills people for a living. It’s also a woman which makes it so different. The last person she is supposed to kill turns out to be such a nice guy that she doesn’t want to kill him in fact she cares about him and his passion for wild horses. The ending is a surprise and well written as the whole book is too. I highly recommend this book.

I have really enjoyed this series and Dead West is one of the best books by Linda L. Richards I have read. I was hooked on this nameless character in the first book but found the second a little slow, in this one she sure shows that she can tell a story. How you can base a killer for hire story based on the situation with wild horses that was ment for a non fiction book is amazing. I read this one from cover to cover in two sittings and had it not been for the need for food and sleep I would have done it in one. Great story. I thank Oceanview Publishing and Netgalley for making this book available to me.

A woman with a tragic past has remade herself into someone that can't and won't succumb to feelings ever again. It's what she needs to do in order to do her job as a hired assassin. When she meets her next "target" Cameron Walker, she realizes that the unsettled feeling in her gut is the possibility that she might be falling for her target. Set in the Arizona desert, "Dead West" evokes the harsh reality of desert life and the hidden beauty to be found there through beautiful descriptive passages. Hit woman turned rescuer, and bearing a false name and past put "Katherine Eveline Ragsdill" into danger herself, knowing that her contract handler will not let this failure to complete the hit on Cameron slide. The only way to keep everyone safe is to disappear once again. This is volume 3 of the "Endings" series. Readers would expect that our heroine's adventures will continue with a new identity, location and perhaps occupation in the next volume.

This book had lots of twists and turns. Although I didn’t read the other two books, I had no problem reading this one. This is not necessarily a book I’d normally go for but it was a good book. Definitely would recommend.
Thank you NetGalley, Oceanview Publishing and Linda Richards for the ARC!

The premise of this one is wild! So twisty. Not necessarily the kind of book I’d pick up and really do not like the cover - especially after reading the actual story- but this was an unexpectedly emotional and satisfying read.

Thank you NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the eARC.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book with the female assassin. She's off to Arizona where she is supposed to kill Cameron Walker, a man who loves wild horses and fights to protect them, even though it seems a losing battle...they are in dire danger from crooked politics in Washington.
But she's not happy with this assignment. She likes Cameron and what he stands for.
I liked her thought processes, she's interesting and still hurting from the loss of her son and husband, but I had a hard time worrying about her dog - what if she died doing her job? Of course I also worried about the horses.
Definitely recommended.
Other than that, it's a good book.

When I started this book I didn’t realize it was the third book of a series. But that was not a problem at all. The story starts off quickly as we meet a paid assassin. She is assigned to kill a man in Arizona, but once she sparrives on the scene, she decides he doesn’t deserve to die. When he disappears, she takes it on herself to rescue him and others as it turns out.

I read the summary of this book & intrigued by the female “hit man”. Wasn’t sure if I would like it but to my surprise, I could not put it down. The book was engaging with twists & turns. I found myself rooting for the good guy and, of course, the horses. While, a part of my wanted the ride away in the sunset ending; I think the ending was even better. This is a must read.

The premise of a hit woman is unusual at the very least, and the way she is presented in Dead West by author Linda Richards is riveting. Richards does an amazing job moving forward with her plot, i.e. her protagonist accepting assignments to kill (presumably evil people who deserve it), and at the same time observing and contemplating her Southwest desert surroundings with affection and perception. In the meantime, the hit woman finds her next target and falls in love with him. She also sees his value to mustangs and other wild horses, and she realizes that he is a person of probity.

Richards creates believable characters, and we are most taken in by the ambivalent hit woman, Cameron, the savior of wild horses, and Skeeter, the nefarious rancher who wants nothing more than to destroy all the wild horses, are all artfully described. Richards also clearly has a connection to the Southwest and its stark beauty that she shares with the reader. The pace of the book is fast and stimulating, and I look forward to Richards' next book.

Thank you to Ocean View publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.