Severely injured in an explosion, John Chenneville spends the last year of the American Civil War recovering in a military hospital. When he returns to his family home in Missouri, he learns that his sister and her family were brutally murdered and the crime was covered up by local officials. Chenneville gleans enough information from local sources to identify the killer, and vows revenge. After several months rebuilding the physical strength and mental acuity lost in the explosion, Chenneville sets out on his journey, following clues that will take him deep into Texas’ rural Indian territory and eventually to the Gulf coast. It’s a solitary and dangerous pursuit; some areas are under martial law and others are barely governed at all. But as with most journeys, by the time Chenneville reached the end of his search he had discovered a great deal about himself and found hope in the midst of great loss.

As with Paulette Jiles’ previous books, the history and landscape are brought to life. John Chenneville is a great character, developed more fully than those in the earlier books, which adds depth to this novel. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction. ( )

When Union army veteran John Chenneville returns to his St. Louis home after recovering from a head injury in a military hospital in Virginia at the close of the Civil War, he discovers his sister and her family was murdered by a corrupt law enforcement official who worked in Ste. Genevieve. Chenneville sets out seeking revenge. He follows the man through Missouri to Fort Smith, through Indian Territory where he has a couple of encounters--one with young Indians and another with a federal official based out of Fort Smith soon after the man he seeks commits another murder. Fleeing the agent out of Fort Smith and pursuing the man, he goes into Texas. He meets Belle, the telegraph operator who has been helping him gather information on the whereabouts of the man he pursues. After recovering from a fever, he sets out, gathering information that sets him on course for the encounter. I loved the way the story was built which brought just enough action and excitement along the way, but the ending fell flat for me. ( )

After spending months recuperating from a head wound, Union LT. John Chenneville returns home only to be told a short time later that his sister, sister's husband, and infant child had been murdered. Chenneville learns the the man responsible, A. J. Dodd, was not charged and is on the run. Thus begins an journey that takes him from Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Texas to seek vengeance for his family. This is an epic story set in the post, reconstruction Civil War. Chenneville would make for a great movie and I hope it's brought to the silver screen. I will be seeking out additional novels written by Paulette Jiles. ( )

Another beautifully written book by Paulette Jiles! She does such a great job capturing the Civil War time period after and putting the reader into the story and characters. ( )

Like Captain Kidd, the news reader main character in Paulette Jiles' award-winning News of the World, John Chenneville is on a journey - actually, more than one journey.  First is the trip from a military hospital in Virginia back to his family's home on the Missouri River near St. Louis, in September 1865.  Fighting for the Union Army, John was badly wounded in the head in the Civil War, and is finally well enough to make the long trip home.

When he arrives home, he learns that his sister, her Confederate husband, and their baby (named after him) were murdered.  As the subtitle indicates - "a novel of murder, loss, and vengeance," John wants vengeance.  He spends over a year at home, working his property while trying to improve his memory, balance, and accuracy with numbers and guns.  That's the second journey.

In November 1866, he starts the third - to find his sister's killer.  His journey takes him through Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory (Oklahoma), to Texas, all areas experiencing the chaos, ruin, and lawlessness of Reconstruction in the western slave states.  There's a map in the endpapers of the hardbound book I checked out from the library that shows most of the places he went.

Jiles was born in Missouri and spent the first part of her life there, and now lives in Texas.  Research in Missouri for her memoir Cousins and her first novel, Enemy Women, which is also set in the Reconstruction era, provided background for the Missouri portions of this book, as did News of the World (and two other books I haven't read yet) set in the same period in Texas. Jiles is also a poet, and between her research and her spare but powerful language, the reader can truly picture the settings and really get to know the characters, even the minor ones.

By the way, there's a reference to news reader in this book (page 300), as well as to a fiddler (page 303), likely an homage to Jiles' Simon the Fiddler, which I haven't read yet.  If you've liked any of Jiles' previous Western historical fiction, you'll like Chenneville too. ( )