A review by fae_princess_in_space
Hell and Gone by Tal Bauer

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.