Adobe Flats

September 15, 2014
A laconic loner squares off against a Wild West magnate who rules his dominion with an iron hand. Grant, a poker-faced tough guy with a Marlboro Man vibe, takes a train to the arid town of Absolution, where the streets are eerily empty, and everyone he meets advises him bluntly to leave. He gets lodging at the Gage Hotel only by intimidating the desk clerk, then has to stand up to a would-be enforcer in his room. Grant's looking for Eduardo Cruz, a man the locals apparently know no better than the reader. He finds an ally, and some chemistry too, in feisty Sarah Hellstrom, who runs Gilda's Grill and Diner. She clues Grant in on Tripp Macready, who owns virtually everything in Absolution and repels visitors. Macready's the man to see if Grant wants unrestricted movement. Little by little, flashbacks begin to explain Grant's task. He had been part of a small team for the Allied Expeditionary Force, which included medic Pilar Cruz, who was more than a friend to him. Once Grant finds Eduardo Cruz, a doctor like his daughter, it's his sad task to inform him of her death. Although Grant has not intentionally crossed Macready, Cruz warns that a showdown between the two is now inevitable. And when Grant learns that Macready has been slapping Sarah around, he's unstoppable. The prolific Campbell's third Resurrection Man novel (Montecito Heights, 2014, etc.) harkens back to the gritty but thinly plotted men's action series of the 1970s and '80s, with less gore and a stylish noir voice.

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