Death River

THE MAN WHO TRIED TO CROSS CALEB . . .Through the smoke, as if in a dream, Caleb saw Cheatham feverishly cocking the heavy pistol again, gripping it by the barrel as he levered back the hammer.With an effortless and fluid action that he had practiced a thousand times since obtaining the unusual pistol, Caleb-thumbed back the hammer of the Le Mat and fired.Even the worst shot in the world could scarcely have missed at that range with that charge in the gun.Large enough to stick a finger into, the sixty-three caliber barrel exploded, the buckshot starring outwards in a vicious pattern of death.Caleb felt the familiar jerk at his wrist from the heavy recoil, and waved away the smoke to see what remained of Lieutenant Cheatham of the Army of the Confederate States of America in the act of toppling over the rail to plunge bloodily into the river twenty feet below . . . LJ Coburn is the pseudonymn for the writing team of Laurence James and John Harvey, brought together to create the Civil War series CALEB THORN. Written by Laurence James and John Harvey, the adventures of Caleb Thorn take place during the American Civil War ... a conflict that becomes decidedly personal after Thorn's beloved mother is killed by Rebel artillery fire. When Thorn subsequently falls foul of his commanding officer -- whose son he killed in a duel -- Thorn is given a stark choice ... spend the rest of his days languishing in a stockade, or take a bunch of condemned men on a whole series of missions, any one of which could result in their death ....