Mike Blakely

This is my third Mike Blakely novel and I have not been disappointed with any of them.

The story is sort of a fictional autobiography told by a man who is 99 years old. He tells his story starting in France where he is an orphan who as a teenager commits a murder and escapes to sail to America to start a new life. He has many adventures revealing what life was like in the 1840's as a trader with indian tribes in Texas/New Mexico during the war with Mexico.

The stories he tells are literally hair raising, funny at times, thrilling at others. Blakely has a talent do drawing you into the action with his way of story telling. I liked how the old man would talk to you as though he was telling his story from his home.

Blakely is different from most writers of American western fiction. He is not one dimensional, characters can be heroic one moment and evil in another. He is sensitive to the native indian plight and other than just characterizing them as hostile redskins to be wiped out, he reveals the human side of their life in all his books.

A well deserved 5 stars for this novel.… (more)

This is an amazing book. I am not sure about the historical accuracy though some of the events are true, especially those of the French explorer LaSalle.

I really feel I gained some insight into how the horses were introduced to the American indian culture. I really enjoyed the detail of indian life and culture. I wonder if the main character of the book, Horseback, really existed....

This is an enormous cut above the normal cowboy/indian book. I enjoy reading about this time period. It is my first Mike Blakely book... it won't be the last, that is for sure.… (more)