The feminist western you’ve been waiting for: The Devil’s Revolver has heart and grit. A terrific genre-crossing tale with a deft touch of the macabre.”

—Donna Thorland, writer on the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

The feminist western you’ve been waiting for: The Devil’s Revolver has heart and grit. A terrific genre-crossing tale with a deft touch of the macabre.”

—Donna Thorland, author of The Turncoat, writer on the TV series Salem & the upcoming Netflix series Sabrina

The Devil's Revolver by V. S. McGrath

She is Hettie Alabama — unlikely, scarred, single-minded, and blood bound to a revolver inhabited by a demon.

The first book in an epic, magic-clad series featuring the Wild West reimagined as a crosscultural stereoscope of interdimensional magic and hardship, The Devil’s Revolver opens with a shooting competition and takes off across the landscape after a brutal double murder and kidnapping — to which revenge is the only answer. Hettie Alabama, only seventeen years old, leads her crew of underdogs with her father’s cursed revolver, magicked to take a year off her life each time she fires it. It’s no way for a ranch girl to grow up, but grow up she does, her scars and determination to rescue her vulnerable younger sister deepening with every year of life she loses. 

A sweeping and high-stakes saga that gilds familiar Western adventure with powerful magic and panoramic fantasy, The Devil’s Revolver is the last word and the blackest hat in the Weird West. 

“A fantastically readable female-focused story . . . A really terrific riff on the Western, told with huge verve.”

—KJ Charles, author of the Charm of Magpies series

Welcome to the birthplace of the Devil’s Revolver, where untold danger lurks for Hettie Alabama and her companions…

The second book in the epic, magic-clad Devil’s Revolver series follows Hettie and her sister south of the Wall into Mexico, where they must unmake Hettie’s infernal mage gun while confronting a magic- and land-hungry army and a monster from hell drawn to the powers of the weapon. Hettie wants nothing more than to break her bond to the cursed Devil’s Revolver and find a way to keep her sister safe — but Abby’s indigo powers are growing stronger, and in the gated, walled village where they take refuge, nothing is exactly as it seems. Pursued by the Pinkertons, left without allies or guardians, Hettie has to rely on her own grit and determination to do the right thing, no matter the cost.

This second installment of V. S. McGrath’s sweeping and high-stakes saga draws its truly unforgettable gunslinger heroine to her limits and ends with a satisfying bang.

“The women of this series are amazing. There are so many of them, they’re treated as equals, and they’re all such badasses.”

—Midwest Book Review

If Hettie Alabama could do what she was told and stand down . . . she might not anyway. Especially when the letters her sister sends from her place of hiding don’t seem quite right, and Hettie’s posse is tying her hands tighter by the day. She’s itching to take the safety off her cursed mage gun, the Devil’s Revolver, and walk through the fire to end the reign of evil that’s choking the magic out of the West—not to mention save her sister once and for all.

The only problem? Hettie’s name is in the headlines and on every wanted poster in the nation—but she’s not the one robbing banks and killing innocents, even if the pictures look just like her. She’s up to her chin in high-necked gowns and beauty glamors, charged with fulfilling her word to the influential Favreau family of New Orleans, even as it becomes increasingly clear that they want only to consolidate the world’s waning magic in the hands of the rich and powerful. The politics get more personal as the most loyal of Hettie’s gang uncover the threat of an immoderate technology that steals magic from the unwitting innocent and transfers it to the nefarious elite.

Hettie has no choice but to go rogue, and when she drops a black hat over her brow, the Devil’s Revolver’s trigger glows hot. The Devil’s Pact stampedes from San Francisco’s Chinatown tongs through the glittering high society of Chicago to the hidden swamps of the Deep South in its search for truth, genuine justice, and an end to a world that refuses to recognize the power and change wrought by girls.

“An exhilarating ride through a unique world, The Devil’s Revolver pulls you in and doesn’t let you go. Hettie casts a spell on you that’s sure to keep you turning the pages.”

—Christine D’Abo, author of the Bounty series

Hell’s not so scary when you’ve been there twice already…

It’s been three years since she lost her sister, Abby, to the Division, and Hettie Alabama has gone rogue. Roaming the West with an outlaw posse, robbing banks and stealing magic, she’s broken every rule she once believed in. Nothing matters anymore but finding Abby.

Meanwhile, the world is on fire. Hungry for power, the Division leaches magic from the vulnerable, with dire consequences that set Hettie’s pursuit of her sister on a collision course with dangerous monsters and even more dangerous men. It’s up to Hettie and her cursed revolver, Diablo, to find a way to save the world—or end it.

The Legend of Diablo delivers an action-packed conclusion to the Devil’s Revolver series steeped in violent history, dark magic, and hope that demands an accounting.

“Features vivacious characters with tricks up their sleeves.”

—Publishers Weekly

A Devil’s Revolver short story

Eight-year-old Jacob Wheeler doesn’t know what to think of the strangers who arrive on horseback at his family’s remote farmhouse. The dark-haired bounty hunter has too many guns strapped to his body to be altogether safe, and the dying woman he calls his wife is downright terrifying. But Jacob’s parents agree to take the mysterious houseguests in, and he and his twin sister, Mary, can do nothing but watch and wait to learn what this unexpected event will bring into their lives. As the days pass and the woman begins to recover, she only grows more frightening — but Jacob begins to rely on the bounty hunter, who reminds him of the magazine stories about the legendary Elias Blackthorn and his cursed revolver.

In this atmospheric, menacing addition to the Devil’s Revolver Series, V. S. McGrath offers readers a glimpse at Hettie Alabama and Walker Woodroffe from the perspective of a boy faced with his first opportunity to grapple with good, evil, and the sacrifices required to protect the people who matter most.

All of the net proceeds from the sale of The Houseguests (100% of revenue less credit card or Paypal transaction fees) will be donated to RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.

“Immensely readable, gritty, and sharp as a spur rowel, The Devil’s Revolver is a western with a twist.”

—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of the Julia Grey novels

 

The Devil’s Revolver is a riveting ride that mixes the grit of Westerns with the world of magic. McGrath loads this fantastic story with action, suspense, adventure and unforgettable characters. You’ll definitely want to pull the trigger.”

—Wynne Channing

An Excerpt from The Devil’s Revolver

Hettie couldn’t say what had woken her; her eyes had simply snapped open and she’d known something was amiss.

Sure enough, she found the rope had been chewed through, the frayed ends still wet. Dammit, Abby. This was the third time in two weeks. She yanked her coat over her thin nightgown, grabbed her boots and Winchester and padded quickly down the stairs. Outside, she pushed her bare feet into the cold, hard leather and checked her rifle’s action, loading it quickly. Coyotes were often seen roaming the ranch, and there’d been rumors of a pack of wolves roving the hills. But out here, it was men Hettie was more afraid of.

 

An Excerpt from The Devil’s Standoff

“Hettie, I’m thirsty.”

“We all are, Abby.”

“I’m really thirsty. And hungry.”

“I know.” Hettie pressed her cracked lips together. Her sister was pale as chalk except for her sunburned, feverish cheeks. The head covering she’d fashioned from one of Walker’s shirts hardly kept the sun off her. “Try to think of something else.”

Abby slumped in the saddle in front of her. Hot, dry air filled the momentary gap between their bodies, the sun searing the front of her dark, heavy dress. Beside them, their loyal, dust-covered mutt, Cymon, whined.

“Don’t talk so much,” the man they called Uncle grumbled ahead of them. “You’ll dry out your mouths.”

 

An Excerpt from The Devil’s Pact

The train chugged along, and Hettie watched the landscape streak past through the window.

A restlessness pervaded her, though everyone else seemed content to pass the time with the clatter and rattle of the tracks and wheels to soothe them. Sophie sat reading a heavy tome about magical ailments. Marcus cleaned his mage guns. Jemma crocheted a lace doily with the speed and dexterity of a spider. Horace was off somewhere on the rest of the train, chatting up strangers. He was uniquely good at that. Hettie wished she could escape, too, but Uncle had said it was too risky to poke around without Sophie’s glamor to disguise her. There was no sense using her talisman, either, not for something as frivolous as a need to stretch her legs.

Puffs of dark engine smoke curled across the window. The fumes nauseated Sophie, so they kept the shutters closed. The car grew stuffy and soon, Hettie was desperate for a breath of fresh air.

 

An Excerpt from The Legend of Diablo

“There are still only five men.”

“Count them again.” The blandly repeated order chafed every time it was repeated. Hettie knew that, but she’d also learned not to jump into any situation until she was absolutely certain.

“We should go now,” Duke Cox growled. The man had been with her for nearly three years, and he still questioned her orders. “We’ve been sitting on our asses for damn near two hours, and it’s hot as hell out here!”

“Hell’s a lot hotter, and it’s where you’ll end up if we’re not careful,” Hettie said without looking the man’s way. “Count ’em again, Tommy.”

V. S. McGrath reads from The Legend of Diablo

Watch the Trailer for The Devil’s Revolver

V. S. McGrath

photo by Danielle Blancher

V. S. McGrath is a published romance author (as Vicki Essex) and has six books with Harlequin Superromance: Her Son’s Hero (July 2011); Back to the Good Fortune Diner (January 2013), which was picked for the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Sizzling Book Club; In Her Corner (March 2014); A Recipe for Reunion (March 2015); Red Carpet Arrangement (January 2016); and Matinees with Miriam (November 2016). She has been featured in the Globe and Mail, Metro Toronto, Torontoist, Inside Toronto, and Canada.com. The Devil’s Revolver is her debut young adult fantasy. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, or her websites: vsmcgrath.com and vickiessex.com. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

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