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The Loving Wrath of Eldon Quint by Chase Pletts is a western taking place in the Dakota territories. Mr. Pletts is a screenwriter, this is his first novel.

Eldon Quint is a farmer, widower, father of two boys trying to get his life together. But Eldon has a checkered history he’s trying to forget, and give his boys a good home and good life.

Eldon’s twin brother, Clayton, goes by the name of Jack Foss, an infamous outlaw of the American west. When Eldon is mistaken for his brother, his son gets killed in the crossfire. Grief stricken Eldon goes on a journey to bury his son next to his wife, hundreds of miles away, and avenge his death.

We just came back from the Black Hills of South Dakota on a family road-trip, and then this book showed up. The Loving Wrath of Eldon Quint by Chase Pletts tells a good tale of love, revenge, and forgiveness.

I haven’t read much in this genre, western historical fiction, however I enjoyed this book very much. This is the American west as I always imagined it, rough, gritty, dirty, unforgiving, tragic, and cruel.

One of the things that is difficult to convey is just how rough life was. The sense of grief, loss, profound sadness, and the acceptance of all those things comes through in a very real way.

The characters, both Eldon and Clayton Quint are flawed in people. They interaction between the two is one of the things which made the book a good read. I enjoyed reading about their history together, relationship to their father whose ghost always looms nearby, as well as their interactions.

One of the side plots involves an orphan who was brought west by the Orphan Train. That this program started so early in our history was something I never realized. The subplot brought a whole new aspect to the story, and allowed the antagonists to also shine.

The plot is complex, but not difficult to follow. I enjoyed very much when side characters are introduced, who have an enormous impact on our protagonists, even though they are not in the story for long. We get their histories and importance in drips and drabs, which makes the actions perfectly understandable

The excellent depiction of the American west was just icing on the cake of this gripping novel. As a screenwriter, the author shows the reader his story, in a beautiful narrative. ( )

The Loving Wrath of Eldon Quint by Chase Pletts

Dark, gritty, violent story of twin brothers that managed to survive their childhood then moved on to an adulthood that saw one becoming a farmer with a family and the other an outlaw with a bounty on his head. A difficult meeting between the two after thirteen years apart leads them into a situation where survival is questionable for either of them.

This story had gunfights, brawls, torture, murder, bounty hunters, people running for their lives, a woman with a dream, a young boy who had seen too much, evil men aplenty and two brothers that are more alike than they are different.

What I liked:
* The real feel of the story
* The backstory of the two brothers
* Eldon and Clayton: they managed to make it through years of hardship only to face more in this book. In the end their connection was stronger than either may have realized. I also admired their care for Ian and Minn.
* Minn: a strong woman that deserved the freedom she sought
* The snippets of the past as they were told throughout the book
* The way I began to ponder the lives of the men, their actions, how they ended up where they did and why.
* That there was so MUCH to contemplate
* That I could draw my own conclusions at the end of the story
* The author’s note at the end of the book telling what was happening during the time he wrote most of this story.

What I did not like:
* The despicably evil men that were chasing Minn and the brothers
* That there was so much sadness, loss and cruelty more than one experienced

Did I enjoy this book? Hard to say “enjoy” but I was definitely drawn in and could not stop reading.
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )