Review--Branded--4.5 stars

The novel “Branded” by Eric Red is one that shows the ways that humans can do very bad deeds.  It is focused on a bounty hunter named Joe Noose who has partnered with two U. S. Marshals – one male, Emmet Ford, and one female, Bess Sugarland.  Yep, a female marshal is on the job.  This brings an interesting dynamic to the storyline.

As the book’s title notes, there is branding going on and we are not taking the branding of cattle.  There are people being branded by a seeming madman.  Joe, as a kid, while running around with several older boys, was caught stealing cattle by the owner.  The man took it on himself to hang the older boys but since Joe was too young, he only branded him on the chest with a large “Q.”  Now as a 34-year-old adult, Joe carries the brand mark but instead of embittering him, he used the evil experience to turn his life around. But the idea still strikes fear in him.

The task that Noose and his Marshal friends, Ford, and Sugarland, have taken on is to track this fiend down.  They are spurred on as recently there was a mass murder where each victim was branded with the letter “Q.” The difference with Joe is that after his ordeal, he was left alive.  This did not happen with the most recent victims;  they were chopped into pieces with the mark of “Q” on every piece that had been hacked off.

During the midst of winter in Wyoming, the “posse” roamed through lots of snow seeking the Brander, as they have started referring to him.  He is very elusive and has almost been caught several times. The pursuing bad discovers some unusual secrets but begin to bond as a team.

Cornered in heavy snow, the Brander might be expected to fight, and he does but the outcome has several twists right to the bitter end.  An interesting book that is hard to put down until the posse begins to wrap-up this adventure. An enjoyable adventure.