The Hellbenders Trilogy by Richard Prosch

The American Civil War is drawing closer to a reality, but the Mexican/American War is still on the minds of many in the Southwest. Cortina’s Mexican insurgents have just laid waste to a large chunk along the Rio Grande and now a Tejano named Cardoza has his sights set on taking over a ranch, with dreams of many more such targets to come. However, at the behest of his uncle, Texas Ranger Lin Jarret rides into the middle of this war, with the primary mission of watching out for Reece Sinclair, daughter of ranch owner Tom Sinclair, heiress to the large spread.

While he expects a spoiled rich girl, Reece turns out to be far more than he bargained for, fully capable of protecting herself and the ranch, all while leading a secret mission all her own. As an abolitionist, she finds a like-minded soul in Lin Jarret. Together they become “Hellbenders”.

Author Richard Prosch is an experienced wordsmith, and his storytelling prowess is on full display here in these three novels. While there is plenty of gunplay and action scenes to please those that thrive on such plots, this book is far more than that. I’ve read many a western novel in my time and rarely do I get to enjoy the characters of a novel as much as I do here. They really leap off the page, fully realized, complete with realistic personalities and motivations. They’re the type that could absolutely be real people. Even the minor characters (and there are quite a few), felt real to me. The author’s ability to capture the lingo and the sounds of the various cultures in the novel is truly impressive.

In the second novel, “Seven Devils Road”, we see that the Order of the Ivory Compass is working hard to establish their ideal of a new country carved out of parts of the American South, West, and Caribbean wherein slavery shall remain an institution forever. Now, they have their sights set on Missouri. In order to help finance their version of the Underground Railroad, the Hellbenders recruit a few compadres and proceed with a scheme to rob a train of assets owned by the Ivory Compass themselves. What better way to build a resistance than to use your opponent's wealth? The bad guys soon get wind of the robbery, leading to a perilous chase along the Butterfield Overland Trail in a coach as it makes its way from Syracuse to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

This second book is just as full of gritty action and perilous situations as the first. The main characters retain their intriguing personalities while new ones provide plenty of new charisma and drama. Of course, Richard Prosch continues to demonstrate his ability to capture the voices of his characters. Mixed in with the fire-spitting gunfights and threats coming from all corners, is a nice mix of relationships and humor. Additionally, there is some interesting history sprinkled in. For example, I’d never heard of the Walch Navy 12-shot revolver. It’s a .36 caliber revolver patented in 1859 utilizing superimposed chambers, which means that each of the six chambers could hold two shots, for a total of 12 rounds before reloading. It had two hammers and two side by side triggers, with the trigger for the front loading being positioned slightly ahead of the rear load’s trigger, to help ensure that they are fired in the correct order. Pretty cool gun and when used in the novel, provides for a unique gunfight.

The third novel, “A Killing at Rimrock”, opens with Texas Ranger Lin Jarret and his pretty partner Reece Sinclair using their stagecoach to transport a passenger named Dale Hemlock to an important Cotton Growers Association meeting. Cotton is the foundation of the economy in Texas in 1860 so the Cotton Growers are extremely important. It also seems inevitable that there will be war between the states.

Local disputes involving the transportation of alcohol across the Red River fuel an already volatile situation that also involves the conflict between the abolitionists and the Order of the Ivory Compass. Caught in the middle are our Hellbenders, whose reputation for leading escaped slaves to safety is growing.

All three Hellbender novels tie together but they can also each be read and enjoyed separately. His two primary protagonists, Lin Jarret and Reece Sinclair make for an ideal pair to carry the plot. To quote from the book, “He was flour, she was water. Together they were hard tack – able to see through the rough times and last damn near forever.” The other characters are all well-drawn and serve well to enhance the realistic setting and atmosphere as well as advancing the plot at the same time. And believe me there is lots of action here including gunplay, fist and knife fights, stagecoach peril, as well as some intriguing mental one-upmanship. It's especially gratifying to see Reece hold her own in these conflicts.

I genuinely hope this is not the final novel in the Hellbenders series. It would be interesting to see how Lin and Reece carry on with their Hellbenders mission once the war begins in earnest.

Highly recommended.