Customer Reviews

The Trailsman #310: Alaskan Vengeance

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Skye Fargo loves poker, especially when the pot includes an Alaskan gold mine - and he's the winner. But when he arrives in Alaska to claim his riches, Fargo learns that there are plenty of vicious cutthroats, Russians, and Indians who will do anything to stop him. The Trailsman soon finds himself swept up in a whirlwind of deceit and death and it's beginning to look he won't make it out of Alaska alive....

Jon Sharpe presents the reader with a cracking read. A book that's filled with action - much of which is very graphically described. My favourite part involving a brown bear, this incident gripping my mind in all its gory horror.

Setting this story in Alaska is a first as far as I know and I wondered if we were in for another first too; that of a Trailsman book without any sexual encounters for Fargo... but, of course, the women eventually turned up, Kira in particular catching my imagination - probably due to her in-ability to speak English correctly, leading to some humourous lines.

Vassily Baranof, Frank Toomey and Gray Fox all being memorable characters too.

And what of the gold and the fate of all these people? All I'll say is everything is tied up satisfactory by the end.

Another great entry into the Trailsman series.

The story is interesting but the research on animals in Alaska should have been better. There are no elk in Alaska and the rabbits are snowshoes -- little different than the normal rabbit. I have never heard of a mountain lion in Alaska. There are bobcats. Maybe I need to do more research. I lived there for many years and I am always interested in reading stories of Alaska.

1861

Alaska

"...life was a roll of the dice, and the dice were rigged"

the Trailsman

Book 310 Alaskan Vengeance is a little different from the usual Trailsman books, and I must say I wished the authors would stick to the lower 48 west. We are given some interesting historical background of Alaska plus the flora and fauna, yet it is not the western U.S. and Fargo really seems out of form in the 49th state. Best to bring him home, where he belongs.

Leaving Seattle traveling to Sitka (originally New Archangel), Fargo and Frank Toomey look up a gold mine found by Frank, now with Fargo as partner, wants to develop the mine. Once out in the wilds things go terribly wrong from Tlingits Indians, to giant Kodiak brown bears, and angry, gold hungry, greedy Russians criminals, with all parties having murder on their minds.

Fargo though seems quite at ease here as the author uses words "in paradise", "new and virgin territory", "vast", "unexplored", and even "last great frontier" to describe Fargo's feelings. All well and good, but the story seems somewhere between contrived and formulaic. Even old Gray Fox and his killer Tlingits have a hard time livening up the sleeper plot. Even Fargo gets so fed up with both parties, the Tlingits and the Russians, that he ends up wanting to kill both of them.

After 160 pages it is almost with relief I bid the Alaskan journey of the Trailsman farewell. The cover art may just be the best thing associated with this story. While this is not a 'bad' read it is certainly not even close to the top of the Trailsman books. Besides, the Ovaro is missing, left stabled in Seattle so we are without one half of our usual team. I did miss the Ovaro.

Next stop for the Trailsman: Idaho Impact book 311. Ah, back to the 'west' of the good ole U.S.