The Second Take. Silas, #2

This second book in the Silas series is set some ten years earlier than the first one. We see Silas rescue Gords from a street gang, and then decide to raise him as his own. It's a gritty story, closer to the problems that can arise around country life in New Zealand. An action packed read that is populated with unforgettable characters. A retired chief of police who doesn't play by the rules, a broken-down military man, a battered wife who gets a second chance, an SAS captain Silas trained in martial arts as a boy, a cafe owner with a heart of gold, a visiting nurse who takes an intense interest in Silas, a collector of early muskets who is always experimenting with them, a street kid Silas rescues, an old hunter who never misses, a Croatian mountain dog, the dishonoured head of a motorcycle gang, and Alcoholics Anonymous members who will do anything to be useful again.
Silas will always be a policeman. He has taken early retirement, but keeps a close watch on his small town and everything that goes on there. It doesn't help that the chief of police who replaced him is a career man, and the two clash whenever Silas wants to get things done.