Ralph Compton Seven Roads to Revenge

by Carlton Stowers, Ralph Compton

In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series, a man seeks revenge for the death of his wife and sons while caring for his traumatized daughter.

Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn't fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier. 

Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One day, when returning from an overnight trip to buy a calf, he finds his home burned to the ground and, even worse, his wife and sons murdered. His young daughter escaped the slaughter by hiding in the fields. She is so traumatized that she refuses to speak. 

Carl has one a group of strangers has just left town. One man had a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand and one man was missing two fingers. Carl is determined to track them and exact his revenge.

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 27, 2021

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reminded me of a western I might find on TCM, something filmed in the 50s and early 60s before the spaghetti westerns arrived in town.

Fast-paced, well written, a page turner. A simple plot - track down two killers, shut down a skunk-mean rustler, make the world right again.

Ralph Compton passed in 1998. This book is written by Carlton Stowers. He did well.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the title suggest, this novel is another entry in the revenge sub-genre of the western novel. As such, it is quite mediocre. The author tries to blend a number of adventures into the story and doesn't know when to quit. Therefore, he resolves the revenge section fairly early in the book and lets the story move into a chase-down-the-rustlers tale.

The author manages to create one or two interesting characters while painting his hero as a one-dimensional creation that comes across the page as flat and just plain boring. His friend, Lyndon, has much more character development and stands out more than the hero. Even the hired gunslinger, Sam Libby, seems to have more going on than the hero.

Finally, this author should not be permitted to write western novels at all. Why? First, he did not do any research on weapons... Pistols are all Colt Peacemakers, and rifles are just rifles. By failing to do the research he totally screwed up. A Colt Peacemaker refers to the Colt Single Action Army that debuted in 1873. Yet, the novel is set in 1866-- so this was a major screw up...

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure what possessed me to try a western. This might be the first one I have ever read, mainly because of the name Carlton Stowers and not Ralph Compton. It was fine. Basically 3 guys pursuing 2 guys. But while I thought the climax would be tied to this, a sudden "2nd story" materialized and this became the intense focus for like the last 20% of the book. Seemed a bit odd and out of place.

I won't be rushing to read another western any time soon, but who knows? Maybe I'll get the itch again someday.

[Ray Ratliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of Ralph Compton books.