The IE Mommy

The Shopkeeper – A Steve Dancy Tale

James D. Best

Synopsis:

In 1879, Steve Dancy sells his shop in New York City and ventured west to explore and write a journal about his adventures. Though he’s not looking for trouble, Dancy’s infatuation with another man’s wife soon embroils him in a deadly feud with Sean Washburn, a Nevada silver baron.

Infuriated by the outrages of two hired thugs, the shopkeeper kills both men in an impulsive street fight. Dancy believes this barbarian act has closed the ep isode. He is wrong. He has interfered with Washburn’s ambitions and this is something the mining tycoon will not allow.

Pinkertons, hired assassins, and aggrieved bystanders escalate the feud until it pulls in all the moneyed interests and power brokers in Nevada. Can the former city slicker settle accounts without losing his life in the process?

What does the IE Mommy Think:

I have to admit that I am not into Westerns…whether it be movies or books…they are  not really my “thing”.  Although I was intrigued with the storyline of the Shopkeeper and decided to try something different with this review.

It took a few chapters for me to gain a personal interest in the main character, Steve Dancy, but once I did…I was hooked.

Steve Dancy is the “everyday” man with a “bad boy twist”. He is not a cowboy but a shopkeeper from New York that keeps his secrets and his past close.  In the Shopkeeper he is never over confident in his abilities yet manages to keep one step ahead of the bad guys. He is a thinker and quick on his feet….with an amazing amount of monetary resources…Steve is able to out think, out maneuver and out money the bad guys. He quickly learns who is friends are and who his enemies are.

I tried hard to picture what Steve would look like in my mind and it was difficult…so many television and movie characters ran through my mind but Steve Dancy is legend all by himself.
No one “real” human could be Steve Dancy.

I will definitely look at Western novels a bit differently now. The Shopkeeper opened my eyes and my realm of interest and I will be actively looking for more books by James D. Best…especially the Steve Dancy Files.   Be still my heart!

**Information obtained from the Shopkeer’s  Press Kit and/or Website.

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