December 6, 2010
Debut author McLaughlin writes a great opening line: "The crowd was small for a hanging." No writer can keep up that kind of tension for 400 pages, but McLaughlin offers a refreshing male take on a faith-based romance western. After young Ben Carstairs is strung up despite his protestations of innocence, preacher Michael Archer sets out to find Ben's dad, Sam. The two were estranged, and it was a last wish of Ben's for reconciliation. Unfortunately, Sam is a mean and very successful businessman who's made enough enemies that someone strikes back, kidnapping him. A second complication of Archer's mission to Sam is Rachel Stone, who, like the preacher, has a past. Attracted to her, yet conflicted, Archer joins a posse to rescue the businessman. The plot is action filled, considering how much of it consists of the posse on its long ride. Many of the supporting characters are well-done. McLaughlin earned the Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel award he won for this; he's one to watch.
February 15, 2011
After Ben Carstairs is hanged for a crime he did not commit, preacher Michael Archer is determined to find Ben's estranged father, Sam, and pass along a message from Ben. When Michael learns that Sam has been kidnapped, he joins the rescue party, but not before falling in love with Rachel Stone, a newcomer to Riverbend with secrets of her own. VERDICT McLaughlin's book won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild's 2009 Operation First Novel contest. It should be popular among fans of romances set in the Wild West as well as readers who enjoy Louis L'Amour and Tracie Peterson.
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