|
Publisher:
Avalon Books (Thomas Bouregy & Co Inc) |
Release
Date: April 2004 |
ISBN:
0803496508 |
Awards:
|
Format
Reviewed: Hardback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Western [1898, Colorado] |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
|
Kendrick
By A. H Holt
Rancher
Wayne Kendrick knows that his best friend Jim Cason wouldn’t
have just left the farm he was creating for himself up in the hills,
so he just has to go investigate. What is this Blake Mining Company
that has taken over the land and is selling off claims to gold prospectors,
and if this is all their business consists of, why do people keep
disappearing? Clearly something is very wrong here, and when he
befriends a young orphaned boy whose father has been murdered by
a gang of villains, the pair of them don’t have to wait long
before they are in deep trouble…
Having thoroughly enjoyed A
H Holt’s debut novel Silver Creek (also reviewed
on this site) I can assert that her second novel is up to the same
standard. This is a real old-fashioned Western in the most positive
sense of the word (ie a good story with no unnecessary gimmicks)
that has the right mix of elements in the right amounts. There is
a mystery to solve, a forthright, plain speaking protagonist and
even some modest romance, but not too much of the latter to make
it a novel that would only appeal to women. This is a book for both
sexes and a wide range of ages. Having the main character tell the
story in his own cowboy words is a fine idea, as it gets right to
the heart of the story straight away with no messing about in keeping
with the nature of the tale. You can imagine Kendrick telling it
around a campfire, and the reader is sat there too. Once again there
is a good sense of the period, a thrilling adventure and some lightly
sketched but convincing characters. More please.
|