There’s a dark feel to this A Wind Of Knives right from the off. The opening offers a strong sense of the world being a tiny pinprick within huge universe, a pinprick
where all human activity takes place.
Daniel’s been running a farm in Texas, with only the one
ranch hand left as the remainder have either joined up to fight in the civil
war or run away to avoid joining up. This hand is Steven Houpe and when we get
to meet him, he’s hanging from a Juniper tree as a mutilated corpse. His crime?
Sodomy. He’s a strange fruit, to be sure.
The book takes Daniel on his journey to find revenge. On the
way he comes across outlaws and rangers, card games and killings, all of which
give the story a strong sense of the spirit of the age.
The question as to why Daniel’s need to find revenge is so
deep rooted was my main drive to turn the pages. There are also questions
relating the involvement of the James brothers and why they have such strong
reactions to Houpe’s death. All of these characters have very strong
motives and are prepared to go an
awfully long way to find satisfaction.
I really enjoyed this novella. The description is vivid, the
sense of detail strong and it has many of the accoutrements that one might
expect to find in a Western. The characters have real depth and their potential
actions know no boundaries. Best of all for me is
Daniel’s view of the world,
from an internal and external point of view.
When Ed Kurtz deals the cards, he certainly hands out a
couple of aces.
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