Blogcritics Category: Books: Western

Book Review: From A Distance by Tamara Alexander

Violet Nesdoly — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 14:52:39 EDT

Journalistic ambition meets the frontier in this tale of determination, murder, romance, and faith.
At 32, Elizabeth Garett Westbrook would be considered a spinster by some. But to the heroine of Tamara Alexander's latest historical novel From A Distance, the fact that she's still not married is of little concern to her. What does occupy her mind is the possibility that she could be the first female photojournalist at the Washington Daily...

Book Review: Resolution by Robert B. Parker

Mel Odom — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:36:52 EDT

Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole mount up and slap leather to ride roughshod over a town that's reached its boiling point.
After the final scenes of Robert B. Parker’s novel Appaloosa, fans knew the story of Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole couldn’t end there. Especially not with a movie starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen waiting in the wings.Resolution takes up only a short time after the previous novel. Everett Hitch is still riding solo at this point...

Interview with Mike Cox, Author of The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900

Mayra Calvani — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 05:02:05 EDT

"...as a newspaperman, I quickly learned to write no matter how I felt because I had to if I wanted to stay employed."
Journalist and newspaper columnist Mike Cox is the author of 13 non-fiction books ranging from a study of Texas disasters, three books on the Texas Rangers, to historical stories, true crime, biography, memoirs, magazine articles, and essays. His latest work, The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900, the first of a two-volume...

Book Review: Ghosts at the Table by Des Wilson

Stephen Foster — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:27:51 EDT

Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
In the film Tombstone, when Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday reconnect early in the film (this just after Kurt Russell has humiliated a chubby faced, pre-Angelina Billy Bob Thornton, who has since lost as much weight as he has gained hair) and they have this exchange, more or less: Earp: Come on, Doc, I thought you always said gambling was an honest...

Interview with Multi-Genre Author Mary Jean Kelso

Mayra Calvani — Thu, 8 May 2008 02:31:39 EDT

Multi-genre author Mary Jean Kelso talks about her latest children's books.
Mary Jean Kelso is a journalist and a multi-genre author of adult, young adult, and children's books. In this interview she talks about her latest picture books, illustrated by renowned Oregon artist K.C. Snider.Thanks for joining us today, Mary Jean. Do you consider yourself to be a born writer?Yes. From the time I was able to pick up a piece...

Book Review: The Chase by Clive Cussler

Megalith — Fri, 2 May 2008 21:39:30 EDT

An entertaining diversion from the NUMA novels.
Clive Cussler moves out of the realm of modern-day action thrillers with The Chase, a detective story set in the American West in 1906. The Butcher Bandit, a vicious but clever bank robber, has been hitting banks all over the west, leaving behind a significant body count, including women and children, and a dearth of clues. Isaac Bell, the top...

Book Review: A Terrible Glory - Custer and the Little Bighorn by James Donovan

Realist — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:57:05 EST

How it is possible to have anything new to say about the Custer debacle? This book manages, thank you!
There are advantages to having relatives working in the publishing trade. I often get to read the proof galleys of books before they get published, which is how I came into possession of A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn by James Donovan, which is to be released by Little, Brown & Co. in March of 2008.Donovan's research covers...

Graphic Novel Review: The Lone Ranger by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello

Mel Odom — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:51:25 EST

A fantastic, graphic retelling of the West's greatest legend.
When I was a child back in the early 1960s, I wanted to grow up to be a hero. I tied a towel around my neck and was sometimes Superman or Batman. I ululated in the back yard like Tarzan and shamed the cats in the neighborhood. I ran as fast as Jonny Quest in my PF Flyers.But the hero I loved most of all at that time was the Lone Ranger. His...

Book Review: Territory by Emma Bull

Katie McNeill — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:35:14 EDT

�Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday. Ike Clanton. You think you know the story. You don�t.� An unforgettable tale of magic and men.
Like all good westerns Territory, Emma Bull’s latest offering to the world of fantasy, starts with a lone man riding into a small town. Or rather a man who has been shot being carried into town by a stolen horse, which is even better. That this town just happens to be Tombstone and the characters that pop up some of the most famous men in...

Book Review: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Kendall Karch — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:03:58 EDT

The quest for the Dark Tower continues.
Wizard and Glass is the fourth book in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. The story is set in a western fantasy world and focuses on the adolescent years of Roland, a mysterious gunslinger in search of the Dark Tower. For his own safety, Roland is sent to a sleepy town with two of his friends, Cuthbert and Alain. When the band of...