The Outcasts

September 2, 2013
The fates of a newly minted lawman, a former prostitute, and the promise of buried gold collide in Kent’s (The Traitor’s Wife) gripping third novel. Set in Texas in the 1870s, the novel alternates between the lives of Lucinda Carter and Nate Cannon, both of whom are starting over but under vastly different circumstances. After years in a Fort Worth brothel, Lucinda makes her escape—along with a pouch full of silver from the stingy landlady—to the remote outpost known as Middle Bayou, where she’s arranged a teaching position while she waits for her mysterious lover. Meanwhile, Nate, an Oklahoma native in his first year as a member of the Texas State Police, is sent to track down two legendary Texas Rangers, Capt. George Deerling and Dr. Tom Goddard, and alert them that William McGill, a killer they’ve been chasing for years, has struck again. The men form an uneasy trio, with the experienced Rangers unsurprisingly less than ecstatic to be saddled with a greenhorn, though Nate soon proves his worth. In Middle Bayou, Lucinda bides her time, waiting for her lover’s arrival and for him to follow through on his promise of a life made rich with pirates’ gold hidden near her new home. That Lucinda and Nate’s paths will cross is inevitable, but Kent ditches predictable romance for a tense, unsparing look at the price we’ll pay to get what we think we want.

Starred review from September 1, 2013
After two novels re-imagining the history of her own New England ancestors (The Heretic's Daughter, 2008; The Traitor's Wife (originally entitled The Wolves of Andover, 2010)), Kent turns her attention to post-Civil War Texas, where law and morality are far more elastic. In 1870, Lucinda Carter steals away (steal being the operative word) from the Fort Worth brothel where she's worked in semi-slavery as a prostitute. But do not expect her to have a heart of gold. Despite the occasional seizures she hides from most of her clients, she is tough, conniving and deadly when necessary. Having procured a teaching position under false pretenses, she heads to Middle Bayou, Texas, where legend has it that the pirate Lafitte buried his gold and where she hopes to meet up with her secret lover. Meanwhile, young Oklahoman Nate Cannon joins the Texas police force and is assigned to work with veteran Rangers George Deerling and Tom Goddard. As Lucinda manipulates her way into the hearts of her new employers, a community of former land and slave owners from the Deep South, Nate and the Rangers track ruthless killer William McGill. Goddard, a former medical student with an intellectual bent, takes Nate under his wing, but Nate finds he needs to prove himself to the more coldblooded Deerling. Shortly after Deerling finally accepts Nate and confides that he once had a daughter he mistreated, the experienced Ranger is killed by one of McGill's henchmen. Goddard tells Nate that he loved and married Deerling's daughter, although, as a child, she was permanently damaged by her father's decision to place her in an asylum for her epilepsy. She ran off while pregnant, and Goddard does not know what happened to their child, but his wife has become Lucinda. After McGill and Lucinda' Middle Bayou plans go awry and Nate and Goddard close in, all hell breaks loose. A cinematic but refreshingly unsentimental take on the classic Western, starring a woman who is no romantic heroine, but a definite survivor.

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May 1, 2013

Dallas-based Kent debuted with The Heretic's Daughter and followed up with The Traitor's Wife, morally tenacious tales that drew on family history rooted in Colonial New England, but here she diverges to the 19th-century Gulf Coast. Having escaped from a Texas brothel, Lucinda Carter goes after her treasure-hunting lover, while Texas policeman Nate Cannon tracks a vicious killer named McGill. Imagine what happens next. Book clubs love Kent.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013

Gun-toting lawmen, cold-blooded murderers, and one conniving woman make up this post-Civil War historical adventure by the best-selling author of The Heretic's Daughter and The Traitor's Wife. Lucinda Carter, a prostitute given to epileptic episodes, is making plans to escape her brothel and meet her lover in Middle Bayou, TX. They've heard rumors of a pile of gold buried in the area and are looking to strike it rich, even if it means swindling the locals out of everything dear to them. Across the state, the governor has appointed Nate Cannon to bring a savage killer to justice with the help of two seasoned rangers, Dr. Tom and Deerling. The rangers have a vendetta against the killer, William McGill, that is unknown to Cannon, but they're determined to bring him in, dead or alive. The two story lines race in parallel through the book until they cross paths in a tension-filled scene worthy of the big screen. VERDICT Kent has built a well-paced story, filled with twists and turns that will surprise most readers. A solid choice for those interested in a Western, a thriller, a historical novel, or even just something new. [See Prepub Alert, 5/1/13.]--Madeline Solien, Deerfield P.L., IL

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.