While it offers uneven prose, this Western delivers striking historical details and an appealing hero.
A drama set in the wake of the Civil War follows a U.S. marshal’s pursuit of coldblooded killers.
In 1871, Joe Oscar is a quietly tough 17-year-old—both a precocious student of boxing and an impressive marksman. His best friend, Dave Wall, moved to St. Louis from Gettysburg in 1864, after his father was killed in the Civil War; his mother died soon after. Joe begins to develop a powerful, romantic attachment to his sister’s best friend, Marci O’Hara, feelings he has reasons to believe are reciprocated. But then tragedy suddenly strikes: two out-of-towners kill Marci’s Uncle Matt, apparently because he was a witness to a criminal enterprise that profited from the brutal trafficking of former slaves, now free citizens. The ringleader, Harold Lee, who operated his nefarious business out of New York, dispatched the assassins. Outraged by the grim act, Joe volunteers to become deputized as a U.S. marshal and pursue the killers. The author describes Joe’s indignation in bloodlessly earnest terms, unfortunately characteristic of the novel’s writing overall: “No one can be allowed to come in to our lives and wreak such havoc, I thought to myself. I will fight for what I care about and who I love. I wanted a civilized life for all of us here on the edge of the frontier.” Joe and Dave set out West together deep into Wyoming Territory on a dangerous mission motivated by a desire for justice and, in Joe’s case, revenge on the behalf of the woman he just realized he loves. Offner’s (Joe Oscar Undaunted—1876, 2014) previous book stars an older Joe Oscar. In this prequel, the author astutely depicts the grotesque opportunism that followed the conclusion of the Civil War—a newly freed population became fodder for different kinds of exploitation. In addition, he provides a stirring picture of a still feral frontier, not entirely governed by law. Joe is a memorable and attractive protagonist—a peculiar combination of youthful naïveté and surprising fortitude. But the plot takes far too long to find its stride, even within a brief work—it’s more a short story than even a novella. And the writing, especially the dialogue, lacks even a hint of the grittiness of the plot.
While it offers uneven prose, this Western delivers striking historical details and an appealing hero.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5487-7882-8
Page Count: 94
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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