getimage_195_300_c1_center_center_0_0_1 (1)If there’s a debt to be paid, it’s to oneself.

Imma’s parents are dead and her beloved brother, Nikko, has run from the orphanage; now she must find her own way.  Imma becomes entangled in a world of obligations, betrayals, and no second chances.   Through the harsh deserts and mean water parched towns, she learns how to catch and deflect bullets  … and she learns much, much more: about life and honesty, about the desert and death.

If all of this sounds a little heavy, Imma’s searing honesty and determination made me really want her to succeed and the plot twists and turns like a rattlesnake to a satisfying climax.  There’s a well drawn cast of secondary characters including the mentor, the Bullet Catcher; an old Gunslinger, Hartright; the beloved Nikko and his friend, Cloak.

The book is full of beautiful descriptions and deftly worded images which makes it a pleasure to read.  I enjoyed being absorbed into the Bullet Catcher’s world where a girl learns what it is to decide between hard choices and where Imma finally realises: If there’s a debt to be paid, it’s only to oneself.

Out in paperback 4 Feb 2016 published by Hot Key Books.