Some time ago, I first tried this book in print but didn't make it past the first chapter. However I have a good history with Harris' books, so I decided to give the audio version a try. That proved to be an inspired idea. I was quickly absorbed into the story.
Harris uses the American mythology of the Wild West in this alternative timeline story. Instead of the usual “Manifest Destiny,“ this is a USA that has been torn apart by historical events. Our protagonist, Lizbeth Rose, hails from Texoma and makes her living guarding people who are traveling between the various new states, preventing robbery, rape, murder and kidnapping as best she can. Harris provides some interesting twists on the iconic gunslinger of the Old West. For one, our fearsome gunnie is a woman. Lizbeth is taciturn, as all good Western heroes are, and she has professional standards, but she is understandably money motivated. After all, a girl's gotta eat and buy ammo. The book opens with Lizbeth's crew getting killed, leaving her to become the lone gun(wo)man of legend.
In 2025, the significance of a California that is ruled by the Russian royal family, who escaped the Russian Revolution, gains an odd flavour. Lizbeth is hired by two Gregoris, wizards from that kingdom, on assignment to find a man whose bloodline is important to the survival of their Tsar. It becomes obvious that not everyone in the kingdom share their aims and Gunnie Rose has her hands full. Especially since her two charges are overly confident in their magical abilities but forget that people skills are necessary too. Lizbeth gets some satisfaction out of being proven right on a number of occasions. I would too.
Harris works her usual magic, creating unique and interesting characters, some with murky motivations. Even Lizbeth, who prides herself on her directness, isn't always honest with herself about her own reasoning. I also found her reworking of the historical context to be fascinating and I enjoyed exploring this alternate reality. Being Charlaine Harris, I suspected there'd be a paranormal angle, so the magic of the Gregoris fulfilled my expectations. Lizbeth reminded me strongly of Harris' Sookie Stackhouse character in that she is a mortal woman with a rare talent who ends up working with a man who is stronger in magic, but who benefits from her analytical skill and knowledge of human behaviour. Elie is very much the Eric to Lizbeth's Sookie. Both Lizbeth and Sookie end up performing a lot of the social and emotional work for the men folk in their ventures.
While I may have had some difficulty getting into this first Gunnie Rose book, I am excited to continue with the series. The ending of this novel leaves things wide open for further adventures in Texoma.
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