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Publisher: Harper Torch / HarperCollins
Release Date: 2003
ISBN: 0-06-053530-X
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Paperback
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Genre: Western
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Mary Lynn
Reviewer Notes:  

Gold Fever
A Sharpshooter Western
By Tobias Cole

     Jed Wells is a former Union Army sharpshooter and prisoner, who spends his time writing and traveling around the country to find the relatives of soldiers who died while prisoners so that he might pass on messages he hopes will bring a measure of comfort. While on such a trip, he learns of the disappearance of Josephus McCade, a fellow prisoner, who had often talked of a hidden treasure of immense wealth. Longing to know more of McCade, who he used as the main character in his second book, Jed sets out to continue his mission of mercy to the living and to possibly to learn of McCade's fate.

     Before long Jed finds himself in the town of Leadville where he faces many challenges to his sense of right and wrong, as well as several to his own life. In Leadville, there are those who want to take his life and some who would destroy his morals.

     Although the ending surprised me, I found Gold Fever a pleasurable read from the first page right through to the last page. Unlike many books I've read where I find my mind wandering as I read the "boring" parts, I was never tempted to skip over any of the passages in the book to get back to the "good" parts because Mr. Cole made every word count and worth reading. It's been a very long time since I've enjoyed a western so much. In Gold Fever, Mr. Cole has crafted a book and a hero that it was an absolute delight to read and "meet". I eagerly look forward to the upcoming Repentance Creek, the next book in the series, and plan to look up the first book, Brimstone.

     If you want a book that in part western, part mystery, part character study, and that grabs your attention from the first page and never loses you where the hero is brave and gallant, but all too human, you need look no further than Tobias Cole's Gold Fever. Minutes after starting it, I felt as if I'd struck gold.