*CAUTION* POSSIBLE SPOILERS
it’s great to have Lloyd back. Action picks up with Jim and Lloyd scouting for a location to start renovating for the roadhouse. There’s quite a dilemma in regard to; should they offer prostitution? Well, I don’t know what book another reviewer read, or if they stopped reading after chapter 5. But honestly, it becomes a ‘non-issue’. Over the course of the story, there’s a shift in how most of the town starts to view Jim Powell.
While there’s several sources of conflict, I thoroughly enjoyed the aspect of building the Roadhouse facility and upgrading all the amenities. Jim takes charge and leads two groups; the movers and the builders. He appears to really be in his element here and his leadership really kicks in.
Franklin introduces several cool, new, and potentially long-term characters. Spending a significant amount of time developing them, and also Ian and Hugh.
It’s a prototypical Franklin Horton “Borrowed World” novel with a perfect balance of plot movement and detail.