NOT SO LONE GUNMAN: PETER BRANDVOLD'S THE RANCHER

With The Rancher, Peter Bracvold's third book about the tall, tough swede Anders Nordic, he puts the cap on his hero's arc. He began as a wandering loner who has a stronger bond with Finn, the collie he saves from torment, to finding love in The Man From Dakota. Here he establishes, friends, family, and a place for a future, learning the lengths he'll go when it is all threatened.

Nordic is now married to Alexandria (Alex) , daughter of the Comanche Ranch owner Garth Deveraux, who hired him. He has becomes a respected member in the community in the nearby Montana town, with the exception of Sheriff Conagher and his deputies due to a beef from the past book. Of course he is still tight with Finn and his horse Apache.

This all becomes threatened when Garth's past returns in the form of James McClellan, a territorial senator, who remembers when Deveraux burned his family off their land when they were settler when he was a boy. He doesn't just want to kill him, he wants Garth to watch him lose everything he has and has a band of gunmen for help. Anders sides with is family and pulls together allies, including a family of Comanche who have brought their elder to die on the ranch.

Brandvold lives up to his reputation as an action western master. He moves the story at a cinematic pace and tells with it with boldness. Even the dialogue and internal monologues carry a bravado. He keeps delivering the shootouts, leading to a climax that takes up almost the last third of the book and plays out more like a battle than gunfight.

With Nordic Anders, he gives a great action western hero. capable and lethal, he has developed a sense of humor as he has come out of is shell. He also holds a belief as protector. Once skeptical of people, he has learned the value of community and the need to fight for it.

I hope this won't be the last Nordic Anders book. He has the traits of a classic western hero told with a new voice. Maybe I just like his dog.

-review by Scott Montgomery