Outlaw Marshal-Al & JoAnna Lacy

Outlaw Marshal
Al & JoAnna Lacy
Multnomah Jan 13 2009, $12.99
ISBN 9781601420541

In 1887 convicted outlaw Whipley Langford is freed from jail planning to go straight after avoiding a noose thanks to his friend Marshal John Brockman, who understands first hand how one can stray from the lord as he was once “Mr. Stranger”. A pious law enforcement official noe John also encourages Whip to embrace God, but though he vows to never break the law, he cannot seek the lord’s salvation.

Whip prevents a train robbery by four of his associates catching two of the outlaws and bringing them to justice. However, the two who escape vow vengeance on their former partner. They arrange for the evidence to overwhelmingly prove John committed a homicide. With a perfect frame, everyone assumes the outlaw returned to his roots except for John who believes in Whip's conversion to law abiding citizen. As the hanging rope comes closer, John sets out to prove his friend’s innocence even as Widow Annabeth Cooper prays to God that the Marshal is able to free the former outlaw who owns her heart.

Fans of the Laceys will appreciate the “Return of the Stranger” and his wife Breanna who starred in the mid nineties Western Christian fiction saga The Journeys of the Stranger. The current tale is a fascinating redemption novel as John tries to persuade Whip that he needs to find the Lord if he is to truly make it. Although at times John can turn too preachy for less dedicated CF fans, OUTLAW MARSHAL is an exciting Colorado-Kansas thriller starring a fascinating lead character, the woman he loves, and the man who tries to help him find his way to the lord.
Harriet Klausner