Ian Stansel

Once upon a time, quite a long while ago, I was a young preteen who spent Saturday nights with her grandfather, watching Westerns on TV. Big valley, Ponderosa, and of course anything with John Wayne. Read Louis L'amour, just to be able to discuss with him what we read. Miss that time and that wonderful man tremendously. That experience instilled a love in me for that genre that still exists to this day. Westerns though are not as popular, have been n short supply, though in the last few years some are once again being published, like this novel billed as a contemporary Western.

Northern, California, two brothers on a horse ranch take over their dying father's property, differences ensue, and the brothers become rivals. Each with his own business, tricks are played on each other, some quite nasty, but they are each relatively successful in their own way. Why then after all this time would one brother kill the other and then take off?

Beautiful descriptions of the landscape, much horse talk as expected, and that I love, and lastly a chase, a journey and revenge. Classic Western themes, done very well. Brotherly relationships, extremely complicated and competitive. A simply story, hidden motives, and a starting conclusion.… (altro)