With The Outcasts, Kathleen Kent moves away from the New England setting of her first two novels (The Heretic's Daughter and The Traitor's Wife) in favor of 1870s Texas. As Lucinda Carter plots with her lover to run away from the brothel where she works, pursuing rumors of hidden gold, lawman Nate Cannon joins forces with two Texas Rangers to track down one of the worst serial killers the state has known. At first, the distance between the two stories seems vast, but as Lucinda and Nate move toward their targets, it becomes clear their stories--and their fates--are more intertwined than either could possibly know.
The Outcasts introduces a lot of characters without a lot of background but, for the most part, Kent pulls it off. Nate and his Ranger companions, in particular, are understandable, if not entirely attractive, characters; Nate's sense of justice sometimes clashes with the Rangers' sense of revenge, but the three make an interesting team that highlights the unmonitored and often reckless approach to law enforcement in 19th-century Texas. Lucinda's personality is a bit trickier, wavering between an intelligent girl with an independent streak and a doe-eyed lover who will do anything her man asks of her. Through the combined perspectives of these varied and multi-layered characters, Kent brings to life a world lived on the edge of everything: civilization, lawfulness and morality. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm