"Fire Eyes"

Cheryl Pierson's "Fire Eyes" ( Western Trail Blazer, 2012) had me invested in the two main characters, Kaed and Jessica from the early pages. As young widow Jessica strives to save Kaed, a U.S. Deputy Marshall, from injuries he sustained at the hands of a sadistic and well written character by the name of Fallon, you are pulled into the time and place with practiced ease.  Even Standing Bear, another deeply drawn character, lends to the mystery and wonder of the area.

Pierson deftly explains the rather quick emotional and physical bonding of the leads, although some readers might find the events happening a little too quickly.  Nonetheless, the reader can feel the reality of the emotions and the needs of Kaed and Jessica.  It is this bonding that ties the whole story together and therefore as necessary as breathing.

For me the weakest part of the book is the characters of the remaining U. S Deputy Marshals that populate the remaining parts of the book.  As a reader I had trouble keeping them straight.  There was not much in terms of descriptions that allowed me to visualize how they looked.  It was not until the book was almost over that I was able to tell the difference in a couple of them.  If anything there is a desire to know much much more about these men.  Other than the sub-plot of Frank, who I still have no idea how he looks, the story stays on track the best when focusing in the two main characters.

Yet even with these minor setbacks the book was an enjoyable and fast read.  It is worth the time to check out this early effort by the author.