Description

A thrilling historical western set in 1890s Oregon. An English soldier turned policeman escapes to the American West for a new future, but life on the frontier proves far harder than he ever imagined…

‘Slipping into Dark Frontier is like pulling on a comfortable pair of old cowboy boots. Matthew Harffy knows how to write a real western.’ C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three-Inch Teeth
‘A modern western with grit in its teeth. A European soldier and man of the world finds the Wild West to be wilder than he might have expected. Much to the reader’s delight.’ Joe R. Lansdale

A man can flee from everything but his own nature.

1890. Lieutenant Gabriel Stokes of the British Army left behind the horrors of war for a role in the Metropolitan Police. Though he rose quickly through the ranks, the squalid violence of London’s East End proved just as dark and oppressive as the battlefield.

With his life falling apart, and longing for peace and meaning, Gabriel leaves the grime of London behind and heads for the wide open spaces of the American West.

He soon realises that the wilds of Oregon are far from the idyll he has yearned for. The Blue Mountains may be beautiful, but with the frontier a complex patchwork of feuds and felonies, and ranchers as vicious as any back alley cut-throat in London, Gabriel finds himself unable to escape his past and the demons that drive him. Can he find a place for himself on the far edge of the New World?

‘An incredibly satisfying novel.’ Theodore Brun
‘The best adventure novel I have read all year – in any genre.’ Angus Donald
‘Harffy breathes new life into the Western genre with all the sureness of a maestro. Dark Frontier is set to become an instant classic.’ Richard Cullen
‘What a terrific read this is! Well-written and well-paced.’ Griff Hosker
‘A phenomenally well-written and twisty fusion of classic western and tense Victorian detective thriller, with a bit of Jack Reacher thrown in.’ Mark Knowles

Publisher Review

What a terrific read this is! A western combined with a sort of whodunit – perfect for someone who grew up watching all the cowboy shows on TV and then morphed into someone who loves detectives.

This is a well-written and well-paced book. Gabriel Stokes and Jed White are wonderfully round and crafted characters. The landscape through which they move, Oregon, is both well-drawn and accurate. It feels like the frontier. The attention to detail is something we come to expect from a skilled writer such as Matthew but in this book, he excels himself.

I finished the book in three days and it is a book that I know I will return to. * Griff Hosker *