My review of Throw the Devil Off the Train by Stephen Bly!

About the book:

Catherine Goodwin's got to escape. She wants a fresh start with fiancé Philip in Paradise Springs. Race Hillyard's into revenge. He seeks to settle a bitter score. Meanwhile, all he wants is peace and quiet and sleep. But it's a long, crowded, noisy train ride from Omaha to Sacramento.

My review:

Stephen Bly has always expressed a sense of humor in his books, but this one is the absolute funniest of them all. Part of its charm is the historical setting. The story is a true western in every sense, and the dialog is witty. Their conversations totally fit the setting even though they were filled with wise cracks and dry humor. I read this book quickly (like in less than two days) and it kept my interest the entire time despite being almost 400 pages long. However, the book I read was the large print edition, so the regular copy is probably shorter. Regardless, I loved it.

Throw the Devil off the Train reminded me of a romantic comedy but with classic western flair. There seemed to be one calamity after another that fell upon the main characters. Between the crooks and scams, the guns and fist fights, and the fast-paced plot, there was always something going on. But despite its busyness, the story didn't feel episodic to me. There was a clear direction in which the story was heading, and I enjoyed the ride. The majority of the story took place on a train, but that didn't slow things down at all.

The romance in the story was probably the most fun part of the book. This wasn't a Christian book, per se, but it was close enough (due to pretty clean content) while staying true to the time period. The humor was a bit edgy, but that was one of the things that made it so funny. All in all this novel was a fun read. I'm just sad that it ended up being Bly's last book. I've read a number of his other books and enjoyed every one of them. But of all of his titles that I've read, I'd have to say this one was my favorite. He will be missed.

Throw the Devil off the Train was published by Center Point in large print and was released in May 2011.