7/01/2008

Ambush at Mustang Canyon - MIke Kearby


Ambush at Mustang Canyon.

By Mike Kearby.

Austin: Trail’s End Books, 2007. pbk 196 pages. ISBN 0-9788422-0-0 / 978-0-9788422-0-8.
http://www.mikekearby.com/
Kearby, former English teacher concludes this third and last installment of the Free Anderson / Parks Scott story as he continues the friendship of the former Civil War soldiers, Free Parks, the ex-slave, and Parks Scott, his white friend, on the West Texas and Panhandle plains. It’s 1874 and Free continues his vocation as a mustanger with his family, but here Free and Parks get entangled in the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne Indians’ struggle to keep their lands and their buffalo, with the admixture of Billy Dixon, Mexican hunters and the U.S. Army. The fast-paced novel continues the harsh reality of the times, while splicing in loyalty, family ties, and sensitivity of folks of different origins.

The plot focuses around the famous Battle of Adobe Walls, virtually the last major violent settler-Native American encounter in Texas. While many readers will not think of it, the trilogy is also an excellent selection for teenage or YA readers. Kearby’s earlier works have attracted attention and have been picked up by Dorchester / Leisure Books for 2008!

The trilogy would be good in school libraries.

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