Temperance

Temperance Trilogy, Book 1

By: Matt Prescott

Narrated by: Buddy Hatton

Beckett, an ex-cowboy turned mountain man, is no hero. He doesn't even carry a gun. The northern Idaho territory gold rush has not only brought settlers and miners to his mountain; it's also brought outlaws and killers, and he wants no part of it. On his bi-yearly supply trip to Temperance, Beckett witnesses a local miner horrifically gunned down by a sheriff's deputy. He comes to find that a ruthless businessman has appointed himself sheriff and is holding the town captive, acquiring their gold claims along the Coeur d'Alene River. When the sheriff's men threaten to destroy him and the people he cares about, Beckett is forced to fight back, armed only with his wits, his strength, and his Bowie knife.

©2014 Matt Prescott (P)2016 Matt Prescott

kept me intrigued the entire time

Beckett is a man who has been avoiding his past. After ten years of running from his demons the mountain man is heading to Colorado to confront them. Mr. Beckett makes a stop in Temperence to get some supplies for his journey, and see some old friends before he goes. While visiting, he meets the the daughter of an old friend and is immediately smitten. Soon after a confrontation with a deputy he discovers some major changes to town in the six months since his last visit; Walter Cain just moved to town, he opened a bank, he started buying up all the land in the area, and he became sheriff. On top of that he a bully and will do about anything for money. Enter Beckett, the reluctant yet effective hero.

This is book 1 in a new western trilogy by Matt Prescott, and I plan on listening to the next one. Despite the fact that this is a fairly stereotypical story, it was well executed and kept me intrigued the entire time. The protagonist, Beckett, and his love interest, Abigail, have quite a bit of depth for 5 hour audio book. While I really enjoyed the writing style and the heroes of the story, the antagonists are very cliche and lacked an real menace. That being said, the narrator really did a great job of conveying the attitude and condescension of Cincinnati.

Buddy Hatton was a perfect choice for this story, he has a great voice for the genre. He also did a great job of creating unique voices for the characters as well as executing the performance extremely well. While I've never heard of Mr. Halton and there doesn't seem to much from him on audible, he has had a very long career in show business and his performance here is enough to put him on my watch list. Pair the great narration with some very good audio production and some solid writing that will hold your attention, and you have Temperance.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]