cover image Diamondback McCall: Island Lost

Diamondback McCall: Island Lost

Robert Middleton, . . Avalon, $21.95 (184pp) ISBN 978-0-8034-9850-1

Middleton reprises his eponymous cowboy hero in a western adventure with more narrow escapes than a movie serial. Jack “Diamondback” McCall now calls Spirit Feather, an Anasazi village in Arizona Territory, home. But he still loves a challenge, and when the village chief asks him to find a tribal relic—a golden hawk—hidden in a cave beneath the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Diamondback readily agrees. Accompanied by best friend and partner Dakota Dan Smith and Fawn, his Native American girlfriend, McCall sets off on the arduous 12-day ride. McCall recovers the icon along with an “ancient leather scroll” that contains a map of the Mexican coastline near Vera Cruz and shows a legendary lost island rumored to be home to a temple adorned with a golden sun. Intrigued, the intrepid adventurers set off on a new mission that pits them against pirates, federales and a stormy sea. Fans of western fiction who appreciate an old-fashioned hero and nonstop action will enjoy riding along with Diamondback McCall. (Aug.)