Longarm and the Lost Patrol

This February 2005 episode of the Longarm series finds our hero in South West texas between Fort Stockton and the mountains in the Big Bend area looking for a lost patrol of the US Army.Some pretty strange things are happening with a gang of owlhoots robbing banks,killing and robbing farmers and creating pretty much a reign of terror.Is there any connection between these two things? Longarm ends up with a couple of colorful sidekicks as he tries to solve these mysteries.There is some intrigue involved,but this is still a fast action,Old West novel that keeps the reader's attention;while at the same time refrains from being a drawn out,convoluted whodunit,filled with multiple motives requiring a detailed wrap-up at the end;explaining why and what happened. Lots of good Old West scenes,good characters ;all taking place in the rough,unforgiving landscape in the Big Bend area. The artwork ovn the cover does a much better job than normal ,of depicting the scene and characters involved. I skip around in reading the epsiodes of this series and generally don't find that there is any chronological order to the stories. However ;in this case Longarm mentions using dynamite and fire near this volcano sometime in the past (see pg 134) .I think he is referring to a previous episode #287 Longarm and the Blackmailers.Of course;,on the same page Longarm mentions his friend Jessie Starbuck,of the series "Lone Star;who Longarm encounters once in a while in his travels. Overall;this episode delivers what the fans of this series expect.

Longarm finds himself hunting for an army patrol of sixteen men that have gone missing without a trace. Then there's a gang of outlaws that appear out of nowhere and disappear as easily. If that's not enough vanishing people the woman Longarm has his eye on, and her Uncle, suddenly disappear too. And to top it all just who is behind the attempts on his life? A book filled with questions and intrigue, like why does Harriet wear spectacles of clear glass? The action comes fast and furious as Longarm struggles to trust anyone in his quest to find the missing patrol. The book is sprinkled with Longarm's traits, something other authors seem to fail to do more often than not. (Tabor Evans is a shared pseudonym) The author has you believing you know what is going on until he springs twist upon twist to the plot. All this makes for an exciting and gripping tale. This book is definitely worth a read for any fan of westerns and if you're a fan of Longarm too then make sure you don't miss this one!