Reviews

It was an amazing book with a great ending. I wish it was 50 or so pages long, or have a sequel. We didn't get to explore Everett and Law's relationship more

Holy fuck! That was such a wild departure from everything I've been reading lately and I needed it! Everett and Law were fabulous. A stoic ex-army type caught up in past tragedy and a hot as fuck cowboy with a hell of a tempter but both haunted by lost loves. I loved their interactions and the sex scenes were nice and spicy! The mystery kept me engaged and the story as a whole will probably stick around in my head for a while.

fae_princess_in_space's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Do you have an author whose work just speaks directly into your heart? Where the writing itself is just perfect in every way? Tal Bauer is that author for me. Whenever I feel reading burn-out coming on, I pick up a Tal Bauer book and suddenly all is right in the world, and Hell and Gone was no exception. It’s a thriller set in the wilds of Montana, with cowboys, ranches and miles and miles of open land… a perfect scene for a crime.

Everett Dawson has been discharged from the Army after a traumatic experience and all he wants to do is disappear. As a last ditch attempt at a career outside of the military, he signs up to be a Stock Detective for the Montana Department of Agriculture - tracking down cattle thieves. He is assigned to ‘The Crazies’, a mountain range area famous for cattle ranching, where a number of cowboys have gone missing and cattle are vanishing by the herd.

When he arrives, the town is a mess of whispers, conspiracies and everyone seems to have bad blood with everyone else. Quickly, Everett is pointed in the direction of Lawrence Jackson, caretaker of the Lazy Twenty-Two ranch. He is told that Law has had a difficult history in the town, but people don’t seem to want to elaborate on what that means.

Together, Everett and Law start to try and untangle what has been happening in The Crazies, using Everett’s military tracker training and Law’s knowledge of the land. As the noose starts to tighten around both men, they realise that they are going to have to put their lives in each other’s hands if they are going to survive.

I absolutely loved both Everett and Law - both have had traumatic experiences in their pasts and are just trying to make up for lost time and the relationship building between the two was just gorgeous. Tal’s couples always seem to gravitate towards each other so naturally and it’s just a joy to read. This was a masterpiece of a book and honestly, Tal’s writing gets me every time. Absolutely recommend this one for anyone who is a fan of Tal’s thrillers… and just anyone in general really. Just read it, it’s perfect.

brodiewilson's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

terriaminute's review

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challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

Part of my childhood and adulthood happened in the Rockies in Montana, around ranches and horses, and northern Idaho on my uncle's cattle ranch. The author got the feel of that life right, particularly how hard ranch work is, and how bad ranch hands are worse than no ranch hands, sometimes.

It was a real treat to read realistic horses. Another five stars for that.

I couldn't read this quickly because anxiety brain is stupid. But I really enjoyed it, how real it felt, how the detective's backstory informed everything he did and thought, and the very same for the cowboy. Different, but same. And how, while investigating rustling and murder, they forge a real connection. I even didn't skip the sex scenes, because they are written well, intensely these two men and no one else. In other words, it felt real. A lot of romance writers write scenes with an audience in mind, I think, but this didn't feel like a show. It was personal.