A stellar western…
A wild and thrilling, offbeat ride through a rough Texas and New Mexico landscape, Gaston’s excellent saga takes readers on an exhilarating ride with a motley crew of cowboys across Texas to New Mexico Bosque Redondo Navajo reservation features. Weary of bloodshed and nonsense killing of innocents, Pete Horse, the former Texas Ranger scout, is content ranching and taking care of his daughter in Ohio after his long stint in the army. But when his old friend Charlie Goodnight asks him to join him on his first trail drive across Texas to the New Mexico Bosque Redondo Navajo reservation, Pete, knowing their path will be fraught with usual dangers, gladly accepts. Expecting to encounter the hostile Indians, ruthless bandits, and bad weather, Pete and his group find themselves in the middle of a battle between the treacherous Comancheros, renegade Apache, and night riding gangs of die-hard Rebels, all of them fighting over a thousand stolen army rifles. The stakes rise when a fanatic sect leader’s son is killed at Pete’s hands. Bigfoot Wallace, Bass Reeves, Britt Johnson, and all the legendary characters of the West are here—Cynthia Ann Parker, the Indian captive, who died of a broken heart after her forced rescue from a Comanche hunting camp, Quanah, the leader of the Quahadi band of the Comanche Nation and Cynthia’s son, Clay Allison, the wandering cowboy, a cattle rancher, and the notorious gunfighter who kills recklessly and without remorse, and the vicious ex-communicated religious zealot Purnell Higbee with his sect of violent disciples among others—thoroughly constructed and seamlessly blended with Gaston’s own deeply realized creations. Moving profiles of Comancheros and other Indian communities and Black Seminoles fighting for their identity add emotional and historical nuance. Mixed in with the action and sharp dialogue are tender and poignant scenes, including Pete’s struggles with the senseless killing of innocent Indians, especially women, children, and old defenseless folks, Quanah’s search for retribution, and his mother’s sad tale of trying to reunite with her Comanche family. Gaston beautifully depicts the complexities of cowboy life, and his treatment of the Old West’s most famous massacres is convincing and hard-hitting: the wagon train massacre which is mentioned in passing with a few details of bloodshed and gore leaves chills in the reader’s heart. This tale of adventure, bloodshed, violence, and unlikely friendships in the old West should win Gaston plenty of fans.
Note: This title is free on Kindle Unlimited.
Beyond the Goodnight Trail
By Roy V Gaston
Pub date
ISBN 978-0578770857
Price $9.99 (USD) Paperback, $0.98 Kindle edition