David Anthony Durham

This book wasn't exactly bad, it was just unimaginative. All the conflicts were strangely foreign, and all the resolutions felt slightly "Deus Ex Machina". The battles hinged on single days of fighting, after which a side that was "confident it would win" the day before became now "on its last legs". The writing style was generally poor, and the plot with the Lothan Aklun was terrible, largely because they were never even introduced in the book through anything other than rumor.

I may read the next one, because it promises to be more interesting, but this definitely did not excite me.… (more)

I almost hate to admit that this is a five star book -- it's like something that Quinten Tarantino would film. It's violent in places, but so well written, the characters and setting are so true.

Gabriel, with this younger brother and mother, leave Baltimore after the Civil War and after his father dies to head to Kansas to homestead with a man the mother knew (and loved) many years ago. They disappointedly come to a sod house and nothing but hardship. Gabriel yearns for more. After meeting a smooth talking white cowboy, Gabriel and a newly found friend, James, leaves with Marshall to head for Texas.

Marshall and his two sidekicks are perhaps the crudest, cruelest, and most evil individuals I've encountered in fiction. The group heads south through Oklahoma where the uncalled killing starts leaving a sick and poverty stricken Indian family dead. Gabriel and James become witnesses to merciless in a number of situations including the cruel killing of a Mexican family and the abduction of the daughter.

There are alternating sections of the book telling of Gabriel's family left in Kansas and the story of the remaining son of the Mexican family who pursues the killers.

The book clearly brings a sense of oncoming fear but is also sprinkled with tender moments particularly at the time when Gabriel manages to return to his home in Kansas. This book is a well-written page turner with characters of pure evil and complexity. Good read.… (more)