Death Valley had good pacing and I love a good western themed book! This book has several elements I enjoyed from western theme, to history, to mystery! This is a layered story and Snyder is such a great writer.

I really enjoyed the quick pace of this exciting adventure. Snyder did a nice job of combining several different elements: both high-stakes historical and modern poker games, the dying wild west, a mystery-thriller, budding romance, and time time travel -- all against the backdrop of the Mojave Desert. I appreciated that the plays in each poker game were explained thoughtfully and thoroughly without bogging down the story. I thought the largest area for improvement lay in the dialogue. I felt that it was often unnatural or awkward; ultimately, this resulted in Rose and Mick's relationship feeling rushed and stilted. Many of the other characters also neglected to use contractions when speaking. I found this to be quite awkward and jarring to read, since only formal writing should not use contractions, and casual speech always does. Overall, I enjoyed Death Valley and would recommend it to others in need of a quick paced time travel adventure.