The Red Seven is a roller coaster ride of violence, violence and more violence. Robert Dean has put a ton of unromanticized reality into the old fashioned western. This is what I love about reading, an author who’s willing to take a tried, tested and true genre and throw some attitude into it.
The Red Seven is the story of a bounty hunter known as The Ghost. He is driven by a blood thirsty vengeance to bring in the outlaw gang who murdered his family, dead or alive - preferably dead.
The Ghost is the centerpiece of the story. As a reader, I felt his pain and his desire to avenge the death of his family. Robert Dean has masterfully created The Ghost and his depth of character. He is a good man with a darkness in his soul. He straddles a fine line between good and evil. He can do what a good man cannot, and the law abiding man will thank him for it.
One of the most interesting parts of The Red Seven was Robert Dean’s portrait of post-Civil War America. He paints a very intense picture of a people whose souls are wounded and corrupted. People no longer able to fit into society, living in a land where the fastest hand made the law.
If you love a tragic hero, you will find none better than The Ghost; if you are not a fan of The Western, you will be after The Red Seven.