Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole
11.29.15 Indians, buffalo hunters head for a showdown
Buffalo Trail: A Novel of the American West is Fort Worth author Jeff Guinn’s second book in a historical fiction trilogy featuring Cash McLendon, who is on the run from a man who wants to kill him (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $27 hardcover).
McLendon finds himself in Dodge City, Kansas, in the winter of 1873–74 trying to put together a stash so he can return to Arizona and win back the woman he loves and start a new life in San Francisco.
Buffalo hunters, led by Billy Dixon, are riding out the winter in Dodge before heading south in the spring to Texas, where the buffalo have migrated. McLendon’s pal, a young and reckless Bat Masterson, plans to join them. McLendon has no interest in hunting but finally signs up because he can earn more money quickly and get on with his life.
Meanwhile, Comanche chief Quanah Parker is mobilizing not only the Comanche but also the Cheyenne and Kiowa for an all-out war on the white settlers and hunters who continue to push them out and destroy their cherished buffalo.
Guinn tells the story in alternating chapters from Quanah’s and McLendon’s points of view as the two sides appear headed for a showdown at the Adobe Walls hunting camp.
“Buffalo Trail is history-based fiction,” Guinn tells readers. “With the exception of Cash McLendon, all the main characters really did exist.” He also recommends several nonfiction books about the battle of Adobe Walls and the life of Quanah Parker.
The first novel in his western trilogy, Glorious, came out last year, but both books are standalone reads. Guinn also has published three novels about Santa Claus as well as non-fiction accounts of Charles Manson and Bonnie and Clyde.
Caitlin Strong: Best-selling novelist Jon Land features fearless fifth-generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong in his series of murder mystery thrillers, now numbering seven titles.
I recently read the newest in the series, Strong Light of Day (Forge, $25.99 hardcover). It was the first one I have read, but I plan to go back now and read some more. If you want to start at the beginning, that would be Strong Enough to Die, published in 2009.
Or you can do as I did and just plunge in with Strong Light of Day. The reader gets to know Caitlin Strong right away as she puts herself in the middle of the action investigating an uprising by a rural Texas militia, the disappearance of a busload of youngsters from a Houston prep school, and the mysterious case of a whole herd of cattle being picked clean to the bone. Russian extremists determined to bring America to its knees and a ruthless Texas billionaire figure into the plot of this fast-paced tale.
Lisa Gardner, a best-selling mystery author herself, praises Strong Light of Day as “an adrenaline-packed, tension-soaked thrill ride that’s a top-notch addition to an already terrific series.”
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Glenn Dromgoole is co-author, with Carlton Stowers, of 101 Essential Texas Books Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
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