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A bunch of hired thieves plan to take over the oil-rich land of an Oklahoma township where aging Harry Kidwell and wife, Etta, have made their home for nearly a decade. They are no longer running from the law—just trying to lay low and raise their two children. The only gun allowed on the ranch is owned by Clarence, their black ranch hand. Harry's thirteen-year-old son, Lee, thinks his dad is a coward, especially when the father does nothing while neighbors are being robbed and killed. Lee knows what to do. He writes a letter to his "uncle" Leroy in Seattle asking for help. Unknowingly, he unleashes the power of a notorious gang long believed to have died in South America.
This 436-page book takes place in the Midwest in the 1920s and fits perfectly in either the Western or action genres. Bullets whiz. Horses and automobiles, single-shot pistols, and Thompson machine guns meet together, proving that courage, skill, and honesty win against corruption and deception any day. The author also does not omit romance and relationships between parents and their children. He ties these all together with multiple flashbacks, a prologue and epilogue, and powerful backstories for Clarence, Harry, and Butch. The reader will likely wish to reread the beginning of the book, at least after finishing the story, to catch all of the narrative clues they may have missed the first time. This exercise need not put anyone off, however. The author's tale is a well-written and cleverly conceived glimpse into history that is well worth reading more than once.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review