5 Reasons I Loved Retribution Rails

Happy Book Birthday to Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman! After reading (and loving) Vengeance Road, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on its companion novel, Retribution Rails. I knew it took place a decade or so later and that characters from Vengeance Road would make an appearance, but I didn’t realize how much I was going to enjoy it!

REDEMPTION IS NEVER FREEWhen Reece Murphy is forcibly dragged into the Rose Riders gang because of a mysterious gold coin in his possession, he vows to find the man who gave him the piece and turn him over to the gang in exchange for freedom. Never does he expect a lead to come from an aspiring female journalist. But when Reece's path crosses with Charlotte Vaughn after a botched train robbery and she mentions a promising rumor about a gunslinger from Prescott, it becomes apparent that she will be his ticket to freedom—or a noose. As the two manipulate each other for their own ends, past secrets are unearthed, reviving a decade-old quest for revenge that may be impossible to settle.

In this thrilling companion to Vengeance Road, dangerous alliances are formed, old friends meet new enemies, and the West is wilder than ever.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Railroad hijacking and gun-slinging topped off with a Western drawl

What I loved about this novel:

1. It is action-packed from page one! You start this story, and it’s just one big event after another. There’s no down time, so don’t read this one if you want to get some sleep.

2. I LOVE the women in these novels. They are so authentically bad ass. Sometimes you read a book and it’s very clear that the author was trying to make a strong woman character. These women in the wild west had to be bad ass, and they’re freaking awesome.

3. I knew that Kate and Jesse from Vengeance Road would make an appearance in this novel, but I didn’t realize how much their story would intertwine. I loved how their story connected with that of Charlotte and Reece. LOVED IT! 

4. I said it about Vengeance Road, and I’ll say it about Retribution Rails too: I LOVE how Erin Bowman wrote the novel in a Western dialect. It made the story feel even more authentic and made it an even more fun read.

5. The ending melted my heart. It was simply perfect, and that’s all I’ll say.

BONUS POINT: THE GORGEOUS EFFING COVER! 

I would recommend this book to anyone who might have even the slightest interest in a young adult Western. It’s so fun, you’ll have a hard time not enjoying it. 

You don’t have to read Vengeance Road in order to read this one, but if you think you might want to, check out my review here!

Do you like Westerns? I hadn’t read one until these books, but now I do! 

A.S. Thornton

A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.