Robert Olmstead

Savage Country by Robert Olmstead is a hard-hitting, at times brutal story that I found hard to put down. Although I loved this story, I would hesitate to recommend it to everyone because of the very graphic violence it contains. By the 1870s the millions of buffalo had been wiped out, yet there were still enough that money could be made by the slaughter of these beasts.

It’s Kansas in 1873 and Michael Coughlin has arrived in time for his brother’s funeral. Elizabeth Coughlin is burying show more her husband and even as she is adjusting to the loss of her mate, she realizes that her home, her land and her cattle are going to be taken from her by the hard men that got their hooks into her husband. She and Michael decide to raise money by travelling to Texas on a large scale, highly dangerous buffalo hunt. They plan to hunt over the winter when the Comanche are settled into their winter quarters, but nevertheless, the land offers up many dangers. Through prairie fires and flash floods, rattlesnakes, rabid animals, and human betrayals and treachery the cruel and back breaking work of the buffalo hunt goes on.

I have read a number of Robert Olmstead books and have loved each and every one. Here he is delivering a gripping narrative as he depicts a small corner of American history. But of course, Savage Country delivers much more than history, this is also an intimate human story that is both powerful and realistic. show less

Coming of age story of fourteen-year-old Robey Childs, whose mother sends him to find his father on the battlefields of the American Civil War. Robey rides the titular coal black horse to attempt to locate his father and bring him home. He travels with a reversible coat of blue and grey to blend in with either side. He faces incredible challenges and dangerous situations. His horse has a sense for upcoming threats, and the two travelers develop a close bond. As they journey through Virginia show more and Pennsylvania, Robey encounters both the best and worst of human nature. He sees horrible scenes of the outcome of battles, scavengers on the battlefield, and people out to profit from the misfortunes of others, but also finds helpfulness and kindness. Robey learns much about himself in the process. Olmstead employs lush descriptions of the landscape, as well as grisly scenes that depict the horrors of war. The historical context is realistically portrayed. Robey is a sympathetic character, and it is easy to root for him to succeed. I can’t say I “enjoyed” this book, but it is a worthy addition to the canon of fact-based fiction of the American Civil War. show less

A story about one young man during the US Civil War, this is a book that needs to be read twice in a row.

In the first reading, the story is gripping as Robey leaves his quiet, loving home to bring his father back from the war and then encounters all the dangers, horrors and evils that bred in war. Your chest gets so tight that it aches and you can hardly breathe as he begins to change in order to survive the dangers, both physical and mental, that he encounters along the way. He learns not show more to trust blindly, to steal and even to kill. He leaves home a young teen, not only in years but in understanding and returns home still a teen in years but a grown man in understanding. And even while you are in the grips of the story you are aware that you are reading a book of exceptional beauty.

And that is why you must reread. To savor, to inhale the exquisite prose of this book. I am sure that someone else could have taken this tale and written a 500 page novel that would not leave you as awe-struck as this thin book does. Each word is so carefully chosen, so perfectly placed that a masterpiece emerges and the book enters not only your mind, but also your heart.

The book is very graphic in describing the horrors of the aftermath of Gettysburg (in truth, any battle in any war). And well it should be, for the truth of the scene is horror and to tell it less is to take away the need for Robey's changes. It also makes war 'civilized' which it is not and takes away our need to understand that. show less

Although not a book about the American west per say, Far Bright Star by Robert Olmstead has captured the feeling of the west. Set in the hot, dry, desolate deserts and canyons of Northern Mexico, an American Calvary patrol is caught up in the 9 month pursuit that General Pershing led after Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916.

Written in stark yet lyrical prose this is an intense and gripping story of a small patrol ambushed, hunted and trapped with no help in sight. There is a show more plethora of gun fighting, violence, and torture, but more importantly this book examines the human character when placed in extreme conditions. The aging leader of the patrol, Napoleon Childs ponders the meaning of life and death, and this, combined with the portrait of the stark yet breathtaking landscape, and the author’s poetic writing raises this story far above the usual western.

This is also a story of transition. These men are some of the last of the true horse riding soldiers, machines and new mechanical devices will soon be replacing them. This is also an American army about to enter the massive slaughter that was World War I.

Not a long book, the author manages to convey his tale in a little over 200 pages. While not a book for the faint-of-heart, this tightly woven tale of men caught up in a blood bath of revenge was a very powerful read. show less