Rimrock (Originally The Deputy)

Reno Western Saga #2

by Gilbert Morris

As newly appointed deputy, Reno must face the death threats of a bloodthirsty saloon owner and a sinister gunslinger.

Genres: Westerns, Christian Fiction, Adult, Historical

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

also published under the name Gilbert L. Morris

Gilbert Morris was one of today's best-known Christian novelists. He lived in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with his wife, Johnnie. He is the father to Lynn Morris and Alan Morris

Series:
* Adventures of Kerrigan Kids
* American Century
* Appomattox Saga
* Barney Buck
* Bonnets and Bugles
* Cheney Duvall, M.D. (with Lynn Morris)
* Cheney and Shiloh: The Inheritance (with Lynn Morris)
* Chronicles of the Golden Frontier
* The Creole (with Lynn Morris)
* Danielle Ross Mystery
* Daystar Voyages
* Dixie Morris Animal Adventures
* Far Fields (with Robert Funderburk)
* House of Winslow
* Jacques and Cleo: Cat Detectives
* Katy Steele Adventures (with Alan Morris)
* Lady Trent Mystery
* Liberty Bell
* Lions of Judah
* Lone Star Legacy
* Omega (with Lynn Morris and Alan Morris)
* The Price of Liberty (with Robert Funderburk)
* Reno Western Saga
* Seven Sleepers
* Seven Sleepers: The Lost Chronicles
* Singing River
* Spirit of Appalachia (with Aaron McCarver)
* Too Smart Jones
*

Reviews

[Jessica Holland · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book that claims to be the second in a “series,” I expected to have some kind of tie-in to the first book. It didn’t. Catherine was gone and never to be seen again. WTF?! How can a book leave off with a budding love story and return to never speak of it again, no questions asked? I get that Reno is a drifter and doesn’t stay in one place very long – but some kind of transition could have been used. I’d have been happy with a sentence saying that he couldn’t stay with Catherine because X.

Despite the glaring lack of cohesion, I liked this book better than Reno. I thought the supporting characters were more dynamic and much easier to like. I’ve been partial to Sheriffs in westerns since July Johnson in Lonesome Dove. Jesse Lindsey was just as easy to like. His character was a bit flat, but he reminded me of one of those loveable older men like Andy on The Andy Griffith Show, so I was rooting for him from the beginning.

Reno’s relationship with the whore was a little formulaic, but I was touched at the end (no spoilers! It’s dramatic). The other thing that REALLY was bizarre was that a half brother and sister fell in love. THEY HAVE THE SAME DAD. That’s weird, right? Even for the late nineteenth century that was weird. Dunno what Morris was thinking there.

Overall, Rimrock was predictable …. but good. I enjoyed it. If you want a good dialog driven fluff book, this one is for you.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is the second in the Reno Western Saga, it is not a Sequel to Reno, the first book.

In this story, Ada Lindsey is on the stage out of Dallas. Her son offers her some water, but she refuses, which seems to upset him. A drummer on the stage named Smith decides that he has a pout like a little child, he pulls out a bottle of whiskey to take a drink. He passes it around, most everyone takes a drink, including a cowboy & a mountain man. The stage throws everyone toward the woman, when the son asks if she's alright, she answers that she hasn't been alright since they left Dallas. They stop for a food break & the son suggests that they walk around a while. He wants to explain how he feels, but knows that his mother had been the wife of a small town lawman & probably wouldn't change. He wishes she would have stayed in Dallas, but she feels that since he is all she has, she had to go with him. They walked back to the station & ate a meal. They were traveling to Rimrock, where his father was marshal, & he suspected that his mother still had feeling for his father, although they had been divorced a long time. When they got back on the stage, all the passengers waited for the woman to be helped in first, a new man joined them & tossed his saddle up to the guard. The man seemed to be drunk, the way he moved about. The stage moved out shortly. A gambler named Rossiter later noticed that the man wasn't drunk, but sick, because of his flushed face. Mrs. Lindsey insisted that he be removed from the stage. The driver said that he could be left at a shack where they watered the horses. The gambler decided to stay & asked for his bag, which was thrown down & the driver took off. Al Rossiter took their possessions inside & prepared to care for the sick man. He couldn't figure out what made him stay. The man woke up & drank some of the water that Rossiter offered. His remark that Rossiter was a funny kind of gambler upset him, but he introduced himself, but the man fell asleep before giving his name. Rossiter sat looking out the window wondering about his problems.

[Kedron Skiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

the town of rimrock needs to be tamed. can jim reno tame it.