Gordon D. Shirreffs

Ross Fletcher arrives in the lawless town of Santa Fe early in the Civil War. Confederate agents and soldiers are attempting to move into Arizona and New Mexico but are being opposed by the California Volunteers. One skirmish takes place in Picacho Pass where Apache chief Magnus Colorado is seriously wounded.
When Fletcher realizes how serious the situation is becoming, he rides to Tucson to warn the Union officials where he is ordered to join the army as a scout. His brother is murdered by Confederate sympathizers who want the deed to a valuable mine that is in his possess. The Rebels use their promise of weapons to Apache Chiefs Cochise and Magnus Colorado to use the Apaches in their attacks on Union forces.
The novel follows Fletcher’s adventures chasing the violent Secessionists, fighting off Apache warriors including spending a period in Cochise’s village as a captive where the author through Fletcher’s eyes describes in great detail an Apache war dance and trying to find the woman he loves, who has been kidnapped and is hidden somewhere in the desert.
This is a fast moving novel loaded with action most of which is violent and is loosely based on real historic events.… (altro)

I first read this book many years ago when I was 11 or 12, procured from a Scholastic book fair, and somewhere, sometime, lost track of my copy. I loved the book, but after my copy disappeared I couldn’t remember the name or the author and so years later I started trying to find this wonderful book that I read as a kid, but without the author’s name or title it was very difficult. I finally stumbled across it not long ago and procured it. It is still as wonderful as it was when I read it years ago. It has mystery, suspense, and action and once Shirreffs establishes his characters and the plot, the book quickly builds in both action and suspense and becomes a real page turner. Gary and Tucker are on summer break preparing to enter their senior year, and Sue is Tucker’s freshman cousin who has eyes for Gary. Together they brave the mountains and the wrath of nature, potential landslides and ghosts and one very real killer to try and find a rumored treasure that may or may not exist. It’s a quick read, with great characters and enough action to keep the pages turning through to the end. I am thrilled to have finally found it again, and to find that it as good a book as I remember.… (altro)