Imagine that the Devil holds a large territory in the Old West, and runs his holdings from a bar. Izzy, who has worked cleaning and serving in the bar, turns sixteen and makes a bargain with the devil: she will serve as his Left Hand, traveling his territory with a circuit rider. Izzy is given no explanation of her actual role, just set forth on the road, similar to many traditional quest fantasies. I have a fondness for fantasies set in the Old West, and thought this was truly wonderful. I admit that this may be somewhat due to my visualizing Izzy’s “boss” as Al Swearingen as played by Ian McShane in HBO’s Deadwood series (my all-time favorite anti-hero). Nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing Izzy struggle to find her way and her strengths, as well as the characters of her mentor, Gabriel, and the magician, Easterly. Silver on the Road is the first title in The Devil’s West series. Book two, The Cold Eye, was published in 2017.
Jennifer M.
