WILD JUSTICE
A Page Murdoch Novel
By Loren D. Estleman
Forge Books
224 pgs
For decades, U.S. Deputy Marshal,
Page Murdoch rode out of Helena, Montana chasing all manner of outlaws and
killers at the orders of the Honorable Harlan Blackthorne. When the judge dies
suddenly of heart failure, he leaves Murdoch with his most personal assignment;
that of accompanying the judge’s remains to his final resting place in
Delaware. It is not a task Murdoch is comfortable with and yet he is compeled
by loyalty and honor to accept the mission. Soon he and the Widow Blackthorne
are aboard a special funeral train on their way east.
At each stop along the long route,
they are greeted by official groups and bands wanting to pay their last
respects to a legendary figure credited with bringing law and order to the
Montana territories. Among these are several tenacious reporters and Murdoch is
forced to act as buffer to assure Mrs. Blackthorne peace and quiet are not
disturbed. When the young conductor aboard their small train mysteriously
disappears leaving behind a spot of blood, the Murdoch’s instinct are
immediately aroused. Why would someone risk boarding a moving train, attack the
conductor and then throw him off?
Both Murdoch and the widow believe
the conductor’s fate was mere a ploy to remove him from impeding the attacker
reaching his true goal. But who is that; the veteran Deputy Marshal or the
judge’s widow? During his time on the bench, Judge Blackthorne had ordered the
hanging of many desperadoes. Could friends or relatives of one of these feel
strongly enough to enact vengeance against the widow in lieu of her deceased
husband? Whereas Murdoch’s own exploits
had naturally made him a likely target for many a vengeance seeking foe.
Though that mystery and how it plays
out add suspense to the narrative; the real treasure of this story is the
actual journey from the edges of American’s frontier to the rapidly growing
civilization that is encroaching on it. Which each new mile eastward, Murdoch sees the effects of progress through
innovative technology. What was only new a decade earlier is now old and
antiquated. Trains, telegraphs, manufacturing plants and the automobile. It is
as if the train is hurling them into a startling future and all that remains
behind are so many yesterdays.
