Author: Erin Bowman

Published: 2015

Mood: If you feel like the youth are way too entitled and delicate and want a reminder that a teenager with a purpose is a force to be reckoned with.

I read Vengeance Road at the wrong time, which is unfortunate because overall this is a good book.

The problem is that I thought it was going to be a dramatic Western, so I’d queued it up right after a book I’d assumed would be breezy entertainment. I was wrong in both cases.

See, I like to rotate my reading through genres AND tones:

• I rarely read two Westerns in a row
• Or two horror novels
• Absolutely never two memoirs or biographies
• I like a fluffy or soapy palate cleanser after a scary book
• And I challenge my brain with complex characters or darker topics after reading YA fantasy or “chick lit”

But that last book failed to bring the entertainment, and then Vengeance Road wasn’t the dark, meaty read that I’d expected – like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter or Red Rabbit. So although I did like Vengeance Road for its quality writing (among other reasons I’ll get to in a minute), I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have if I’d fully grasped ahead of time that it’s a teen period drama that’s frequently equal parts raging hormones and revenge.

Vengeance Road takes place in Arizona Territory, 1877. Kate Thompson is out to avenge her murdered father, who was hung by the Rose Riders gang.

Kate has to use her heard-earned skills to follow the Rose Riders’ trail. Her father had made her promise that if anything happened to him, she would go find a man named Abe. Abe’s dead, but his family has a letter from her father that fuels her resolve. What she doesn’t expect is Abe’s two teenage sons following her, lured by the promise of gold.

Oh and by the way, Kate has been disguising herself as a boy this whole time.

That aspect of the story appealed to me, because gender-bending has been an immensely successful plot device for other Westerns – like Whiskey When We’re Dry and The Good Lord Bird. But Kate’s disguise is busted just a third of the way into the book, and then it becomes an obvious story of a teenage girl who likes a teenage cowboy, and he likes her back, but because of his past trauma he insults her and steals from her and she forgives it because his squinty eyes make her feel a certain way.

There’s a huge adventure running in tandem with the budding romance, including a quest to find a secret gold mine, constant attacks from the Rose Riders, and many injuries, close encounters, and deaths.

Will Kate hunt down her target and ride away with her dream guy? There’s a small twist at the end, but you still probably guessed right.

Vengeance Road does a great job of immersing you in the era.

Although it’s packed with almost nonstop action, author Bowman also skillfully describes the clothing, weapons, and scenery. Small details, like Kate struggling to find opportunities to go to the bathroom without revealing that she’s female, or the way she describes being sore from sunburns, give the story applaudable authenticity.

The narration and dialogue are also a lot closer to how people spoke in the late 1800s than many current bestselling Westerns. From the first page you immediately understand where you are and who Kate is. Her gruff nature and dogged perseverance of violent revenge keep the romance element from becoming too much.

But even though you’re rooting for her, Kate isn’t the most likeable character. Nor is Jesse, or his brother Will. The standout is the young Apache woman who Kate rescues from a brothel fire. Liluye is highly intelligent, capable, and never once veers from her own code. She’s also the only one who doesn’t use her trauma as an excuse for shitty behaviour.

I say that as someone who was fully Kate in my youth, running my mouth in the face of bigger enemies and using every tactic available to extract revenge on anyone who wronged me or my sibling. If you take away the guns, place the story in Canadian suburbs, and give the young heroine funky-coloured hair and piercings and her mom’s Toyota Corolla instead of a horse… yeah, it’s me.

I would totally recommend Vengeance Road as gripping, non-tedious historical fiction for teens. It’s also a solid read for adult historical fiction and Western fans, as long as you don’t do what I did and base your entire decision on the cover art and skimming the book jacket reviews.