FACE THE NIGHT

In this posthumously published novel, a teenage girl in the Ordonian Empire is a fugitive feared for her Blessing powers and her twin six-shooters.

Since the murders of her parents nine years ago, 17-year-old Catriona Macgregor has been on the run from Baron William Caldwell, who killed them to gain access to their land and its coveted aurium, a dangerously powerful metal given to humans by the Fallen Saint. She joined a gang of robbers and took the alias Black Cat Whitfield, but she has at last been caught by the sheriff and will be brought back home to Saint’s Landing—just in time to claim her family’s land before it is considered forfeit and can be claimed by Caldwell. Cat goes undercover as a governess to his young daughter, enlisting Adrian, his son and her former friend, to help her stop his corrupt rule. The worldbuilding evokes the history of missionary and settler expansion into the American West, the pacing is steady, the characters are entertaining, and the plot is enjoyable. The novel explores themes such as greed and vengeance, but at its heart, it’s a story about faith—in one’s gifts, beliefs, and self-worth and in other people. Cat’s impulses to run or ignore her fate are understandable, but she faces her greatest fears with grace and grit. Main characters are cued white; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast.

A fast-paced and imaginative read.