The Outcasts: A Novel by Kathleen Kent

The Outcasts: A Novel
 
Advance Copy via Netgalley
Release date: September 24, 2013

Setting: Gulf Coast of Texas, Galveston and New Orleans, LA.

Synopsis:
‘It’s the 19^th century on the Gulf Coast, a time of opportunity and lawlessness. After escaping the Texas brothel where she’d been a virtual prisoner, Lucinda Carter heads for Middle Bayou to meet her lover, who has a plan to make them both rich, chasing rumors of a pirate’s buried treasure.

Meanwhile Nate Cannon, a young Texas policeman with a pure heart and a strong sense of justice, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer named McGill who has claimed the lives of men, women, and even children across the frontier. Who–if anyone–will survive when their paths finally cross?

As Lucinda and Nate’s stories converge, guns are drawn, debts are paid, and Kathleen Kent delivers an unforgettable portrait of a woman who will stop at nothing to make a new life for herself.’

After reading Kent’s The Wolves of Andover and loving it and her style of writing I immediately requested this book from Netgalley. I was not disappointed!

Not a western lover or partial to Texas as a locale, this book captured me immediately. It opens with a prostitute running way from her brothel with the Madam’s live savings. The interesting twist with this character is she is epileptic! This is 1870, not much known about things like this yet. It made her story very interesting.

There are three lawmen on the trail of a very dangerous killer. Two are seasoned Texas Rangers and one is a young Texas policeman. I really enjoyed watching the bonding of these three men and the seasoned lawmen teaching the young lawman. We get to see Nate’s personal life thru letters to and from his wife. Nate is a horsemen and he only took this job to get enough money to buy horses and set up in the training business. So we learn about horses thru his story too.

Throw in the mystery of a buried treasure and it is a grand adventure of a tale! Supposedly a farmer found Jean LaFitte’s buried pirate treasure on a small island. Alternating chapters beween Lucinda and Nate’s storyline it all culminates into one with the farmer and his buried treasure.

Lots of surprising connections, deaths you don’t expect, and a good twist at the end. You have to read this book!

Peggy Ann