The characters in Last Outlaw are definitely the author’s focus in the narrative. Each of the main characters fit a classic archetype that’s seen often in westerns. John Arthur is the outlaw who has a good heart, Beth is the young lady who’s now grown up, and Roland is the lawman who has to reluctantly side with the outlaws out of necessity. Then there are the side characters, Faye and Hudson, who don’t fit in the classic western storylines. Their addition makes a fascinating mash-up of genres. They are reminiscent of Van Helsing or Geralt of Rivia. They are introduced to fight a monstrous threat.

     John and Beth’s relationship is that of father and daughter. He is very protective of her, even stating that he “took an oath of protection” after her parents were killed. This type of connection is a great way to get the reader to form an attachment to both John and Beth. We join the duo during a time of major change, where Beth is now old enough to do much more on her own and John is reluctant to allow it. It’s a very common storyline, but Hall writes them very well. They both think and act as we would expect them to in most situations so the characters feel real and the relationship is natural.

     Roland was probably my favorite character. He is introduced as if he’ll be an adversary to the group. As if he’ll only be an obstacle to overcome. Throughout the story, as the horrors bear down on the characters, he realizes that he must put aside the hostility toward the outlaws and work together to survive. This change in attitude led to a few exchanges between himself and John that worked well to further the character development of both. Roland works with the outlaws, but he reminds John that he is still the law and his indifference toward the outlaw crew’s intentions will only last until they’ve escaped. However, he is never this confrontational toward Beth, only John. This shows his attraction to her clearly from the beginning and is a great way to show his interest without over-explanation.

     The beginning of the novel starts with a lot of exposition. There are characters talking to each other in ways that feel more like they are being said for an audience rather than natural conversation. For example, the opening dialogue between John and Beth explains a lot of their back story. John talks about how he “took an oath of protection” and that Beth “has an answer for everything.” Beth explains that “It’s been ten years since my folks…” These are important pieces of information for the reader to know since it sets up why the characters are the way they are, but it’s not a natural sounding conversation. They are each stating things that they would know that the other person would already be aware of and wouldn’t really need to be said for anyone except an audience. After the introduction, this issue is cleared up and the dialogue flows much more smoothly.

     The atmosphere of the novel is written well to subtly push the reader toward a feeling of strangeness. There is something off about the town. But at first, no one acknowledges it beyond a fleeting comment. From the initial trip into town, we are shown that something is wrong with the area and likely the citizenry. Beth immediately mentions that it’s strange that they would be having a festival for something that “ain’t even done.” When they interact with people in the town, there are vacant stares and overall eerie interactions. These are quickly pushed aside in the dialogue. This tactic works exceedingly well because we as readers are now concentrating on the conversation taking place. But the strangeness is still sitting in the back of our mind. It’s a nagging alert that something bad is going to happen, we just don’t know when. This provides a connection to the characters because we are now feeling the same unease that they are while dealing with the surface level plot.

     There are elements of Last Outlaw plot that I mentioned don’t fit quite fit perfectly. As I said in the spoiler free review, they aren’t anything troublesome on their own, but they are noticeable in combination with the rest of the narrative. In the introductory chapter, we are shown a premonition from John that the bar will fall under attack from shadowy horrors. The scene starts with John and Beth witnessing a a fight brewing with Ken and some other patrons of the bar. Beth mentions that wherever they go, Ken is harassed for who he is (presumably his skin color). The attacker later insults Ken for his skin color and proceeds to insult Beth for dressing like a man. These are issues that were prevalent in the time period, so they could be used to set up different scenarios. However, they are not used for any plot points outside the intro so they set up story threads that never materialize. The only other time that either of these issues are mentioned is when Beth corrects Roland’s use of “knifesmanship” to “knifeswomanship.” I already found the word “knifesmanship” to be awkward, so this exchange just felt grating. Especially since it’s not played off as a joke or attempt at boasting by Beth, but rather a serious correction. These examples are discordant because they have no real payoff in the plot. They feel more like the author making a statement rather than letting the plot flow naturally.

     One way to correct the intro sequence would have been to basically duplicate the scene later in the story when the crew actually gets to the saloon. John saw all this in his premonition, so having it recur in the waking world exactly as it did in the dream would have made sense. As it is, Ken is not even in that scene when it happens for real. This leads to the intro feeling even more disconnected because things don’t happen the way that John foresaw they would so we’re left unsure on the actual accuracy of his premonitions.

     John’s personality throughout the novel stays very consistent. He is a man on a mission to make one last big score and then be done with the outlaw life. He remains focused even through the initial attack in the bar. This was a moment that matches up to a horror movie trope of the main character not taking the threat seriously. But it did fit with John’s character. He basically keeps his eyes on the gold and lets everyone else deal with the craziness happening around town. It may even be a beneficial happenstance for him since the distraction he needs is now in place. When he is shot (with a Peacemaker revolver point blank and survives because a key blocked it, which is such a movie type occurrence. There are a few silly tropes like this throughout the book that I sort of appreciated in this type of adventure novel) and falls into the collapsed bank vault, he realizes that he’s in way over his head. This scene does create a strange contradiction, though. John stops thinking about the gold, “the priority had changed and this was about survival now.” He is thinking about Beth and getting her out safe. However, the next line mentions that he took a bar of gold, which immediately walks back the previous statement. This dissonance could have been alleviated with an acknowledgment that maybe he still had the gold on his mind, it just wasn’t top of the list anymore.

     John’s ending was done perfectly. It had me fooled that he had survived. Hall does a great job here of having John talk to the others, but they don’t respond. It’s not noticeable until John actually calls attention to their lack of reaction to anything he says. This ending works out for John’s arc so well because he doesn’t even mention the gold or any other material wealth. He is solely focused on Beth and whether she’ll be ok. He is reassured by his old friend that he’s done his job in raising her and now she will continue her story with all the lessons she learned in growing up under John’s guardianship.

     Last Outlaw turned out to be much more focused on characters and their personal storylines than I was expecting. The climax at the end was mainly a showdown between John, Ken, Darcy, and Corningstone and it became unclear if the antagonists were really being controlled by the curse or not since their attention was focused solely on John instead of the ritual taking place. There is also a battle against monsters taking place in the background of this scene, which seemed odd. Normally this type of supernatural craziness would take center stage after setting the novel up for it. However, after reading the author’s note, I found that this was more of a prequel to other adventures set in Haddington. So the purpose of this novel is likely to set up the background of the characters and lightly introduce the strange horrors, which would take more of the spotlight in other stories.

     Overall, I enjoyed this story. It was a very quick read about a fairly straightforward adventure (as straightforward as supernatural horrors get, anyway). I did have issues with some pieces of the plot, but the characters staying true to their purpose pulled the storyline through. This book has the feel of an older action/thriller movie which I appreciated because the pace of the plot stays steady and focused throughout the short page count. Last Outlaw is a mash-up of genres that I would like to see more often, especially as a fan of westerns.

-Patrick Jones