Hello, fellow Friday 56ers!
You might be wondering where this week's Friday 56 is. Here’s what happened: Anne @ My Head is Full of Books, the usual host of Friday 56, has teamed up with Olivia @ Bemused and Bookish, who has taken over the weekly meme, The Book Beginnings. They have combined the two memes into what is now called Friday Book Snippets. The rules remain basically the same: feature a snippet from the beginning of a book for Book Beginnings and share a line or lines from page 56 or any other page for the Friday 56.
I'm featuring my current read, The Gunsmith: Skinwalker by J.R. Roberts. This book is the latest installment in the series, number 497 to be exact. The Gunsmith is the last of the adult Westerns from the 1980s that is still ongoing. J.R. Roberts was a pen name for the late author Robert J. Randisi. After Randisi died in 2024, his stepson Marcus Pelegrimas took over to finish the series. The protagonist, ex-lawman Clint Adams, often finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s skilled with a gun, feared by villains, and adored by saloon women. You could think of him as James Bond in the Wild West.
In this book, Clint encounters an injured man who claims to have been attacked by a large wolf. After helping the man, Clint returns to the scene of the crime to hunt the beast but ends up being attacked himself. It soon becomes clear that the creature is not a wolf at all. A local Navajo medicine man identifies it as a shapeshifting creature known as a skinwalker. Clint agrees to help track down the monster before it can claim more victims.
Book Beginnings:
The sky cracked open with a flash of lightning. A jagged, brilliant bolt ripped down to strike the tallest tree in a windswept field. Sparks erupted and flames appeared in the uppermost branches, only to be doused by the downpour that had been soaking the entire county for most of the night.
— Roberts, J.R. The Gunsmith: Skinwalker, Speaking Volumes, 2026, p. 1.
The Friday 56:
"What? You're afraid of cutting that man? What about sending another man into the wilderness against—"
— Roberts, J.R. The Gunsmith: Skinwalker, Speaking Volumes, 2026, p. 57.
〜B.J. Burgess
Well, that beginning sure creates a mood!
ReplyDeleteYes, it does.
DeleteThat illustration on the cover is frightening. What is that thing behind the cowboy?
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that the original author’s stepson had both the interest and the talent to keep the series going. Okay, this snippets caught my attention. I may have to look into this series. The James Bond of the Old West - I love it!
ReplyDelete