About Redemption's Ride
Written by BA Tortuga
138 pages / 45000 words
ISBN: 1-934166-18-9, 978-1-934166-18-5
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Reformed from his days as a bank robber and killer, Preacher rides the badlands with his crew of misfits, doing God's work and spreading the good word. Despite his friends, which include a three-legged dog, a mute Apache and a flatulent Englishman, he gets lonely on the trail, so it seems a gift from above when Hawk shows up.
Hawk is a scarred cowboy with a past he can't remember, and he thinks Preacher might be the answer to the itch he can't quite scratch. Together, with the help of their friends and Hawk's amazing horse Fred, they face an evil like the world has never seen. Can they survive Redemption's Ride?
Review
Chris Owen, bestselling Torquere Press author, writes:
Redemption's Ride has all the things readers have learned to expect from BA Tortuga: the old West, cagey men, passionate sex, and a strong supporting cast of characters. This time out there's an added bonus, too; the story is delightfully creepy.
Preacher is a traveling sky pilot, guiding souls to the right path and showing them how to earn their own tickets to Heaven. He's worked at his own redemption and remade himself with the help of his mentor, Jett, and now he lives his life helping others do the same. Hawk, with the scars of the hangman's rope around his neck, might just be the end of the road for him, though, despite what they both want.
Hawk comes to Preacher's camp in the night, passing inspection by first the dog, Dime, then the two men who travel with Preacher. Little Bear is a mute, having lost half his tongue to a gambling debt, and Abraham is an Englishman who can see what others can't. They're a hobbled together group, spreading the Good Word, and Hawk joins them along with his horse, Fred.
There are some souls that can't be saved, though, and some towns they just can't redeem. Storms blow up, and Hell itself spits and snarls, dragging them all deeper into the dark of Hawk's past. Preacher won't let him go and Hawk needs all the help he can get when the demons come for him.
BA Tortuga's distinct voice sings in this story, and the things Preacher and Hawk first run from and then battle are frankly scary. The dialogue is a joy to read, and the passion both men feel for each other is almost tangible. There's texture and in the landscape and the air is dry as dust, the dark clouds oppressive.
Redemption's Ride will pull you in and keep you there, right into the dark places no one should ever go and back out again with the passing of the storm.
Sample
Damn, he was tired. Preacher sent his cheroot winging into the fire and took another sip from his cup. Little Bear was scrubbing the bean pot, and Abraham was already gone, sleeping the sleep of the newly righteous and farting his damned fool head off.
Maybe Preacher needed to get him a real church. This tent meeting thing reached a lot of folks, but it sure was hard on the ass, being in the saddle all day, and hard on the back, sleeping under a wagon.
Preacher sighed. Life was a damned sight easier before he got religion and left off the drinking and the bank robbing. Jett had set him on the road, passing on the tent and the Preacher hat, though, so he figured he had to keep moving until he found some young fool who needed redemption.
He got up and took his plate over to Little Bear, clapping the big man on one shoulder.
Bear just nodded, as he always did since he'd lost half his tongue to a gambler he owed money, and Preacher walked off into the deep dusk, fixin' to do his business. Which was when Dime started up a barking that sounded like the hounds of Hell, howling and snarling.
He listened for the sound of coyote or some such. Damned dog’d lost a leg to a pack of wild coyotes right near three years ago and was still mean as the dickens.
Still, Dime didn't let up and varmints didn't whisper 'shit,' clear as day, neither.