| Title | : | The Return of Kid Cooper |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 |
| Publication | : | First published February 6, 2018 |
| Awards | : | OLA Evergreen Award (2019), Spur Award Best Western Traditional Novel (2019) |
The Return of Kid Cooper Reviews
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Brad Smith whisked me back in time over a century ago to the blue skies and grassy plains of Montana. I was swept along with a masterful description of life back in those days of long ago. What it was like. How it felt. Down to its greatest detail. The author vividly displayed life on the ranch, on the prairie and in the growing cities with such clarity, that I felt I was there. Sitting tall in the saddle. Drinking nickel beer. Seeing it, feeling it for the first time. The heartbeat of America. From page one, I found this to be a well-written narrative with a supportive story line that never let go. The character of Nate Cooper came well-developed. I knew exactly where he stood.
In 1882, Kid Cooper had been tried, convicted and sentenced for murder. A crime for which he claimed was self-defense. The deck had been stacked against him. For this injustice, he would spend the rest of his natural born days in the Montana State Penitentiary. When he went in, he was a roustabout cowboy in the prime of his life. Those days slowly vanished before his eyes. Twenty-eight years later, the aging cowboy had been granted a pardon. The year was 1910.
Now a free man, he came to discover a new world that had undergone many changes since his abrupt departure. He had been left behind. Technologically speaking. Motorcars had taken to the road, electricity surged through every nook and cranny of the city and the advent of the airplane had literally, taken off. Sadly, the days of the horse and buggy were numbered.
Nate was a friend of the Blackfoot Indians. At least what was left of them. Life-sustaining land the tribe had lived on for countless generations had been stolen right out from underneath them. With nowhere else to go, they had been herded on to a reservation. Like cattle. Understandably, the Indians harbored deep resentment toward the white man.
Nate was sympathetic to the indignities suffered by the Blackfoot Nation. As he considered their hopeless predicament, he became increasingly suspicious of the survey that robbed them of their sacred land. Something about the land survey didn't sit quite right. He wanted answers to some tough questions. As he started to connect the dots, he found that the loss of Indian land led in one direction. To one person. A man of power, influence and wealth who would stop at nothing to see that his secrets remained safe. There was too much on the line. Even if it meant permanently silencing the do-gooder cowboy. And anyone else for that matter who might get in the way.
If there's a moral to this story, there's one word that expresses it best - greed. One of our sorrowful human traits that have undermined society since the dawn of creation. And always will. I wasn't prepared for the ending. It had taken me by surprise. I enjoyed the ride. -
The Return of Kid Cooper is a magnificent Western set in 1919 in the grazing lands of Montana. It’s a book about time travel in the odd sense that someone who’s been in prison for thirty years sees a whole new world with automobiles and other changes. But it’s also about the things that haven’t changed, the scores that haven’t been settled, a woman’s heart, and doing right.
Nate Cooper, who perhaps isn’t quite a saint, has an awesome witty way of talking and the balls to say what he thinks. And, he slowly but surely stumbles on a crooked conspiracy and makes some enemies in the process.
This terrific novel doesn’t have the frenetic breakneck pace of many thrillers. It’s set in a time and place where time moves a little slower. And it brings that time and that place alive like few other novels do. You can hear the horses on the ridge, the gunshots, the wind through the high grasses.
Awesome! Many thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for providing a copy for review. -
The Return of Kid Cooper takes place among the rural inhabitants of Montana in 1910. It’s a critical time for them. In the decades prior, life seemed to be constant and certain. The power structure started with the land owners and filtered its way down to the cows. By 1910, however, change was inevitable and life was speeding up. The Return of Kid Cooper demonstrates that change does not necessarily bring out the best in people. Rather, it brings out the dominant inclinations of people’s true nature.
The novel is a slow burning Western that sorta moseys along through its plot like a cow headed out to pasture. Brad Smith has several minor relationships and conflicts between his characters that keep the story moving and are mildly interesting. The low key feel is further enhanced by characters who all posses Western genre characteristics including stoicism, being slow-to-speak, and being of very few words. There’s also a dark noir mood over the entire story that further weighs it down.
I was guided to Brad Smith through the notion that he might be comparable to Cormac McCarthy. And indeed, there are certain similarities. McCarthy novels tend to be just as dark and possess characters that are also typically Western. With that said, however, McCarthy tries to cut your heart with every novel, while Smith, at least in this novel, leaves that vital organ alone. -
I thought it would be better.
Nate Cooper has been in jail for 30 years after being convicted of a trumped up murder charge. Now that he's out, the old cowpoke finds a new world full of horseless carriages and the occasional electric light and indoor plumbing. He seeks out his best friend Henry and learns he married his own love, Rose. With no hard feelings, he stays on at their ranch while he seeks to bring justice to the Blackfoot Indians, whose land is being stolen, while also righting his own 30-year wrong.
Not much happens, and the ending is a letdown. -
One of the most interesting and fun reads of the year. Not exactly great literature but certainly a well-written book deserving of praise. If a good western is what is missing from your life, this is a good place to start. Brad Smith obviously knows something about what he writes, and is gifted in his craft.
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Nate Cooper has his faults, as do all. Despite those faults--which are presented unvarnished throughout the narrative--Cooper has a true heart and compassion for others. And, in the end, as his ex-lover reflects, "That heart, flawed and fickle, did not make him a great man but it made him a good one, and maybe that was as high as anyone could reach."
After nearly 30 years in a Montana prison, Nate Cooper returns to a world he no longer recognizes in 1910 and tries to regain his footing by seeking out people and places familiar to him in the past. But nothing is the same. The automobile, a noisy, smelly machine, is threatening use of the horse as means of transport. The woman he loved is married to his old partner (who is not the man he remembered). And bad people are taking advantage of the downtrodden Blackfoot Indians who saved his life when he first ventured into the territory.
Despite his efforts to find a place in this different world, Nate keeps running into trouble--sometimes through bad judgment and his own foolishness; more often by trying to do right. Nate has some allies in the latter effort. Rose, the woman he loved, and Willis Samuels, a young reporter, who puts his own safety in jeopardy to uncover corruption by people in high places.
There are familiar aspects to this tale and the ending falls a bit flat. But, overall, Smith handles his subject deftly. Colorful characters, rich dialogue, droll humor, all in all an entertaining romp through a changing west. -
Great story. A young cowboy goes into prison for a wrongful conviction of murder. (he claimed self-defense.) He was released 28 years later and leaves prison an old cowboy with everything he knew about daily life changed. Cars, roads, electricity...modern life in the 1920's. Nate is a man with a strong sense of morals and social justice. Sometimes, well mostly this gets him into trouble. He leaves prison with some goals. The first is to track down a fellow inmate that brutalized a younger inmate driving him to suicide. His moral compass tells him to kill the inmate and so he did, with a gunshot to the head. There follow other shootings and troubles for Nate. He stands with the Blackfoot Indians whose land had been stolen and whose people had been driven onto unproductive lands called reservations. Nate and friends dig to find the truth of this travesty. it leads them into danger and straight into the evil that is power and greed.
The author introduces the reader to interesting and colorful characters and characters with depth. I found myself loving Nate, although he desired the "right" thing- well, his methods were sometimes not so right. The ancillary characters also held their own. The setting and time period made this special and the author makes it all real....Like the reader had been plopped right down into 1920's Montana.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good historical fiction, stand-out characters and a sense of adventure. -
Those who pass up this novel because they “don’t read Westerns” pay a sad price for their cliché mindset. Smith’s prose is lush in its concision, the characters ring authentic, the dialogue worth the whole book, the description of the setting and era is like being there. Driving themes of savage racism, crooked/selective justice, political corruption, hypocritical societal mores on aging and life after prison, and how love, honor, and moral obligation color those things—if it sounds familiar, it should, because for all the progress Kid Cooper resists upon his release from prison and all that’s come since the story’s 1910 setting, we’re left with an elegantly constructed unease that the human condition hasn’t changed all that much. The ending is in a class with Don Berry’s “Moontrap,” and that’s high praise coming from me.
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Some books you like, others you find interesting, and rarely, sometimes you read one and feel like you've made a friend. I was sorry when I closed The Return of Kid Cooper at the end. A great read.
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I’ve just started to watch westerns on television and I have read just a few, so reading this novel was quite different for me but quite entertaining nevertheless. It was what I would call, a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. This novel didn’t have a romance like some westerns do but it did have its share of conflicts and there were the shootings, whether the individuals deserved them or not. A bullet here, a bullet there, just make sure that you were carrying and you knew how many bullets you had left before you pulled the trigger.
Nate had just been released from doing a 28-year stint in jail. Wrongly accused of a crime, he is given a suit and $163.14 and shown the door. A true cowboy, Nate finds the nearest store and doesn’t think twice about laying out $28 dollars for a new hat and some boots that fit. He heads into Opportunity, he needs to settle a score that he promised a young man from prison and then he heads back into familiar territory to look for work. Nate wants to get back into the saddle and out on the range but he knows his age and being an ex-con is not something everyone is looking for. Times have changed while he was away and technology has made its advancements, something Nate and a few others are having a hard time accepting.
Nate finds some old acquaintances and they inform him of some things that have occurred while he was away. Some individuals never change including Nate and he immediately sets about inquiring about an issue that others would like to hidden. Nate is about justice, he oversteps his boundaries at times but he is a man of his word.
I liked the language in his novel, it felt descriptive at times and other times it felt rugged and choppy. As Nate left the prison he wanted to lead a good life, he never wanted to go back to prison yet when he returned to his old stomping grounds, he realized what some individuals were up to and he knew he had to stop them. He did what he had to do, no matter the cost because the end result mattered to him more than his life behind bars. I liked that about Nate. I liked the character of Rose. I had this mental picture of her the minute I met her and the more I got to know her, this picture changed. What a transformation Rose made. I enjoyed reading this novel, I just might be reading more westerns if they are like this.
I received a copy of this novel from Skyhorse Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for providing me a copy of this novel. -
The dialogue in this book is exquisite. Every word rings true. -
1910 Montana. Cowboys, Indians, good guys, bad guys, good bad guys, bad good guys, rustlers, posses, new fangled 'motorcars', western justice and a gal named Rose. Pretty good characters and storyline.
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I’m starting to read books in anticipation of my Father’s Day CBC segment in June, which means I’m picking up novels that don’t normally fit my tastes. I scan my bookshelves and look for stories that don’t generally interest me, and that’s how I start to put together my list of book recommendations for Dads (and yes, I will most likely use that same joke on-air!). The wonderful thing about this approach is that I discover gems that I would never have read otherwise, and The Return of Kid Cooper by Brad Smith is one of those gems. This novel has sat on my shelf for far too long, I’m ashamed to say it was published back in 2018 so I’ve been passing over it for a few years now. I brought it out a few days ago and raced through the pages! It’s a work of historical fiction, and for lack of a more politically correct term, all about ‘Cowboys and Indians’. There’s mystery, romance, political intrigue, all wrapped up in a surprisingly nuanced story about gender expectations. Colour me impressed!
Plot Summary
It’s 1910, and Nate Cooper has just been released from jail after 30 years. He finds himself back in Cut Bank Montana, looking for work as a cowboy, but because he’s now in his 50s, he’s essentially aged out of the business. Luckily he has some local friends who put him up for a few days at their ranch, including an old flame Rose, who married Nate’s best friend after he was sent to jail. So many things have changed since he was gone, except for everyone’s suspicion of him. He has some illegal activity from his past that haunts him, and he keeps a deadly promise he made to a young boy while locked up, but all things considered Nate is a generally upright and trustworthy man. As the story unfolds we learn about his debts to the Blackfoot Indians who are struggling at the edge of starvation, the buffalo gone and their land shrinking because of rich ranchers taking advantage of them. A mystery begins to unfold that includes both Nate, Rose, her husband, and the local journalist that sniffs a promising story. Cursory characters also come in and out of the plot, adding a dash of drama that keeps the narrative clipping along at a steady pace.
My Thoughts
My low expectations of this book were clearly unfair, I can’t even point to a specific aspect of it that kept me away for so long, maybe it’s because I’m not all that interested in cowboys and westerns. Pushing through the tired tropes of masculine cowboys and their fainting maidens, Smith builds a complicated and conflicting character through Nate (Kid) Cooper, which turns out to be one of the strongest parts of this book. He is an old-man by 1910 standards, and reluctant to change, even hating this new technology that everyone seems to be so excited about, the automobile. He visits a prostitute as one of his first few ‘errands’ out of jail, and he doesn’t shy away from getting into a few bar fights when the poker playing gets personal. Still, he leans on the cowboy rules of hard work before play, respecting animals and their land, and treats kind people well when given the chance. The majority of the men in this book are behaving badly in one way or another; drink, manipulation, murder and petty crime make up the plot points that push the story along. And although I missed seeing more than two female characters (a silly one, and a strong one) the novel was so full of other interesting events and observations that I didn’t dwell on the lack of female representation for long.
Nate’s relationship with the Indians (and I’m pretty sure that’s the term American Indians prefer, whereas up here in Canada, they refer to themselves as Indigenous or Aboriginal) is a fascinating piece of this story, especially as I read it as a Canadian. He hates the way they beg for money, or drink too much while in town, but he also recognizes they’ve been treated unfairly, and are struggling for ways to make their own living when shoved onto a tiny piece of land that doesn’t accommodate their old ways of survival, mainly hunting. Before he went to jail, he depended on the kindness of a particular tribe that sheltered him through a difficult winter, so to help repay his debts to them, he brings flour, wheat, and a cow to help feed them. These acts of kindness do not go unnoticed by his enemies, and draws yet another target on his back. Other characters also show sympathy for the Indians, but still don’t see them as equals, which seems unfortunate but accurate for that time period. Although it’s a pleasant surprise that Nate’s character treats them fairly, it’s a terrible reminder of how little our relations with Aboriginal people have changed in the 100+ years since this book was situated. I can’t know how historically accurate Smith’s writing is, but if anything, he’s probably written the characters as more progressive than they really were back then, as I still know plenty of people today with these bigoted opinions of Indigenous populations.
There’s nothing better than being delighted by a book you weren’t excited to read. I’m happily recommending this novel to many people, not just Dads, because I think it addresses some oft-ignored topics in a highly entertaining package, and I anticipate a wide range of audiences enjoying it: previous interest in cowboys and Indians not required.
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The Return Of Kid Cooper, by Brad Smith, is a crackerjack Western that is set a little later than most--it's 1910. Automobiles are showing up in the ranch lands of Montana. Nate Cooper has just been released from prison after 28 years, so like Rip Van Winkle he has to adjust to progress: "I was always of the opinion that progress made things easier. But it don’t look that way to me. If anything, things seem more complicated. Is that the whole idea of progress—to complicate matters?” he wonders.
Cooper was in prison after killing a crooked Indian agent in self-defense, but the local rancher lied about the facts. The first thing Cooper does upon release is kill a man for his treatment of young boys. Then he reconnects with his old flame, Rose, who has married his former partner and best friend, Harry. Rose's brother, Clayton, is going to run for governor, but there's something fishy about a survey done twenty-five years earlier that screwed the Blackfoot, whom Cooper is close to, out of their land.
There are many pleasures to this book, but Cooper's character is the best. He is a plainspoken fellow, often saying things in a comical way, such as “I shot a man named Dudley.” “Oh, dear. Was he badly hurt?” “Bad enough that they buried him.” He is in his 50s, older than most Western heroes, and I couldn't help but picture the late Richard Farnsworth playing him in a movie.
While Cooper is righteous, he is not without fault. "Nate Cooper had done some bad things. He had robbed a bank in his reckless youth, and he had killed men. He had trifled with the affections of more women than Rose wanted to know. He had squandered too much time at poker and billiards. He had known prison, and the inside of a few brothels. There was no evidence to suggest that he was a great man." But of course he always does the right thing.
The ending is terrific, a suspenseful page turner that surprised me a bit and has a heavy body count. But what Brad Smith does is give us the essential tropes of the Western--the cowboy as a knight errant, and bring it a bit into the modern age, where he doesn't belong. As he writes, "The country was changing, and not always in a good way, but one truth remained—a cowboy didn’t want to do anything he couldn’t do from the back of a horse." -
After nearly thirty years in prison for murder, Nate Cooper finds himself free, and makes his way back to Cut Bank, Montana. In his time away, life seems better for his old partner Harry who married his old flame Rose, but things have only gotten worse for the local Indigenous people at the hands of Rose's brother and local state senator Clayton Covington. When old Kid Cooper starts digging up the past, Covington will stop at nothing to ensure he stays silent.
I haven't read a lot of Westerns but when I saw this novel among the forthcoming book club books at my local library, it seemed like a good opportunity to try one. There's something about the atmosphere of Westerns on television and in film that I really like, even as the underlying politics are so often far removed from what I usually enjoy. And yes, in this novel there's a sense of violence as justice and that real men are stoic about their feelings et cetera, but there's still something in the language and the descriptive passages that appeals. I do have to admit, though, that I found the first half of The Return of Kid Cooper to be slow going; partially establishing themes and character, which I liked, but also seeming to meander without a clear sense of narrative trajectory, which meant that it didn't always keep my attention. It was around the halfway point, or perhaps a little beyond it, with the introduction of Willis Samuels and events coming to a head, that I really started to enjoy this novel. There's an investigation, which I always like, and even though there's not really a mystery there's tension over whether there will be enough evidence and questions about the consequences of finding it. And then there's action, too!
I don't know how well my town-born, city-living mind would cope with older Westerns with a more conservative bent, but as an introduction to the genre I enjoyed this one. -
*** Possible Spoilers ***
It's been a long time since I read a good old-fashioned western, probably because it's not one of my preferred genres and the library has removed the shelf where it used to store them. Now and then, however, I like to read genres I normally pass by and since this is a candidate for the Evergreen awards I thought I'd give it a try.
It was pretty good, a little slow in some places but not so much as to be truly objectionable. Like many westerns the bad guy was a wealthy rancher lording it over those around him. However he wasn't trying for the deed to some poor girl's ranch, he was trying to cover up a land survey swindle that had netted his late father, and by inheritance him, many extra acres of prime pasture - pasture that was supposed to go to a tribe of indians living on a nearby reservation.
There were a few things about this book I didn't care for. First, there was a subplot that just fizzled out. A young ranch hand falls in love with a wealthy rancher's daughter. It seems she loves him back. They're thinking about getting married and then ... and then ... it ends - no reason. It's just over.
I also found the ending a little too pat. Sure this is a western. There's supposed to be a gunfight and bad guys are supposed to die but bodies were stacked up like cord-wood by the time this story ended. In addition, a guy who was once a hero and has pretty much allowed alcohol to take over his life has this sudden reversal back to the man he once was. Hmmmm.
If you like slow-walkin slow-talkin heroes who can rope a cow and shoot straight and true this book may be for you but you have to be willing to accept more than a few stereotypes along the way. -
Ten out of Ten from me.
Nate Cooper is on his way back.
After twenty-eight years in prison from a wrongful murder conviction, he's riding back to a world that has changed so much, like the odd motor car coughing along the streets.
Once again he gets involved with the Blackfoot indians, who have been cheated out of their rightful lands, and yet again he's in trouble with the land grabber.
A story told so brilliantly, you can sympathse with Nate, a cool, calm customer, who inside knows what's right, but often exercises it all too wrongly. He really just wants a quiet life, but the Blackfoot travesty is getting under his skin again.
With gunfights and brawls, and Nate's sharp one-liners, you can almost feel the odd glass of whiskey drizzling down your throat; you can sense the piano stopping when the bad guys roll in, and the pages just chug along as sweet as the train to Cut Bank, and you can feel the tension as you enter the Montana Blackfoot Reserve.
Perhaps a western style story isn't quite up your street.
Give this one a shot, and bathe in the slickness of Brad Smith's turn of phrase.
Ten out of ten from me. -
The year is 1910 and the first automobiles are showing up in the town of Deer Creek. We’re going to partake in a story of the not so Wild West. Progress, technology, and modern inventions were making their way across the country and the way of the cowboy was said to be in jeopardy. Cattle rustling never seemed to go out of style though. An Indian reservation near Deer Creek and rustling appeared to go hand in hand, and this would come to a head at some point. Nate Cooper returns to his old stomping grounds after twenty-eight years in prison for shooting a man. His old sweetheart Rose married his best friend Harry and they had done very well over the past three decades. Nate stayed around, riding over the countryside reminiscing. When he came upon the reservation, he was shocked and disturbed at the condition of the place and the people. Once again, their land had been taken, leaving them with little to survive on. Nate was not impressed and thought to change things. Little did he realize the old can of worms that would be opened. It’s a great story, the characters are amazing and realistic. I enjoyed the tale very much. Highly recommend.
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I am not a fan of westerns and wouldn't have jumped up and down to read this book but it was recommended by someone who knows that I like historical fiction and mysteries. Set in Montana in the early 1900's, Nate Cooper is released from a 30-year prison sentence for helping in a hostage situation. He returns home to find some things have change (cars exist) and some things have stayed the same (Indian still being mistreated, the same corrupt people still in charge). When Nate starts butting his nose into a questionable survey, things get heated and the "western" in the book really comes out. Bar room brawls, men on hillsides shooting people, and cattle rustling all come in to play. Mr. Smith does a terrific job with his writing style of evoking an old western feeling to the story. Many of his characters were a bit stereotyped, but that too felt right. If he has more books like this, I might just become a fan of westerns!
A copy of this book was provided NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review. -
I found this to be a truly enjoyable read. It brought to mind some of the works of Ivan Doig, one of my favorite western authors. Nate Cooper is an aging cowboy released from Deer Lodge State Prison in 1910 after serving 28 years on a murder charge based on false testimony. While far from being an angel, Nate has a sense of honor and does what he can to set the record straight and help his friends, both past and present.
There is a great deal about this story that reminded me of the current political climate in our country today. Rich landowners and politicians work behind the scenes to promote their own interests at the expense of others. Elements of racism and social class conflicts also arise. All this takes place during a period in which "progress" is taking over and the "frontier" lifestyle is disappearing from rural Montana. Nate Cooper reminded me of Robert Duvall's character in the movie "Open Range." While never one to shy away from a fight, he always made sure he was on the right side.
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Cowboy Nate Cooper is released from prison after 28 years for killing a man in self-defense. He was railroaded. Northern Montana has changed while he was incarcerated but Cooper hasn't. He has a strong sense of fairness and justice that sets him at odds with wealthy ranchers and the state government. He'd rather mind his own business but he simply can't help himself. He has old friends with the Blackfoot tribe and doesn't like the way they have been treated, and the story unfolds from there. His old partner has become one of the rich ranchers and has married the woman they both loved. Tensions rise steadily toward the surprising, violent ending.
I don't read Western novels, so I was a little embarrassed by how much I enjoyed this book after letting it sit on my Kindle bookshelf for a few years. The writing is tight, the characters are nicely developed, and the dialog is compressed and believable. Did people really not talk as much in 1910? I wish it was that way now. -
This writers style is to start off slow to create the tone/mood of the story as well as getting to know the main characters.
Usually I don’t have the patience but I’m used to it now & I always want to see where the story is going.
the dialogue is sharp.
I wasn't sure what the story was but then i realized it was more of a character study of an older man who has been in prison and is now out and coming to terms with the modern age.
the writer creates a vivid picture of that time period without an overuse of adjectives.
I liked the protagonist Nate “kid” Cooper as well as Rose, and young Donnelly. Even Harry was appealing after a while.
it's also a great insight into what life on the reservation was like for the indians once "the west was won."
It does move a little slowly but when that action hits, it’s like boom, here we go. and there were some surprises in the end.
i recommend this to people who like craig johnson, t. Jefferson parker, bill pronzini, dennis lehane. -
A man out of sync with his time, Cooper was caught between progress and history. Perhaps the 30 years he spent in prison for a crime he did not commit had something to do with that? In this sense he is like so many of us as we struggle to make sense of a world that is different today than it was yesterday. Nate missed 30 years of progress and he has to try to figure out how he will fit in.
I liked this book. I liked the ornery old cowboy Nate Cooper was, and I liked the setting, Montana, on the verge of becoming a modern state.
Fun. -
Solid 5 stars. Had trouble putting the book down. A few questions left to the imagination at the end but probably not germane to the basic story.
Brad Smith, to me, has a unique talent for presenting different but equally good writing styles. In his Virgil Cain books he reminds me of Richard Russo. In this book he reminded me of Larry Mcmurty. This was a great western.
The only book so far I've had any problems with was All Hat, which I felt got a little unbelievable in spots.
I have pretty much all his other books and am looking forward to reading them. -
a pleasant enough book. I enjoyed the story and the characters. It moved a little slowly for my taste but I loved the ending. As someone who doesn't normally read western novels I was surprised by how much I did enjoy it.
I definitely wouldn't have picked it up if it hadn't been nominated for an Evergreen award this year. I think a lot of people would enjoy this story - it appeals to those who enjoy Westerns, Historical Fiction and Investigative plotlines.
