“Everything was boring until the train blew up”, says Lizbeth Rose, a gunnie or a hired gunslinger, in A Longer Fall.
The United States has broken up into several smaller nations. Gunnie Rose is working with a new crew moving a mysterious crate from Texoma to Dixie when the train is blown off its tracks. After being shot and bludgeoned in the head, Gunnie Rose passes out.
When she arose, she was on the side of the toppled train. Some of her crew were dead and the remaining members were wounded. Leaving the crew leader guarding the crate, Gunnie Rose helps two of her crew get to the town’s hospital. When she returns, the leader is dead and the crate is gone. Suddenly, an old friend arrives to both help her find the crate and hire her to find the crate’s owner.
Since reading my first Sookie book, I have always enjoy the author’s writing style and this book is no different. She brings an immediacy to each plot that compels you to keep reading. In addition, her characters feel authentic and include real human strengths and weaknesses among their traits. Setting a thriller in an alternate history that feels simultaneously in the future and in the past is intriguing and innovative.
While I enjoyed reading A Longer Fall, I was confused for a while at the beginning. I felt like I began reading in the middle of the book. The plot, the setting, and especially the characters of this book rely heavily on the reader knowing what happened in the first book in the series. Therefore, I would not recommend reading this book as a standalone. With only that caveat, I recommend this book for those looking for a thriller with an innovative setting, great realistic characters, and paranormal fantasy aspects. 4 stars!
Thanks to Saga Press, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.