Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Out of Control

Few can match Louis L’Amour in his evocation of the American West. If you’re expecting John Wayne to step from the pages of Mary Connealy’s books you’ll probably find these touchy-feely boys too in touch with their feminine sides for your taste but even the master sprinkled romance in his tales. Expect more detailed physical descriptions of the characters and their experience of the terrain than the physical experience itself. Don’t get me wrong, these books are well-written, just different. Real cowboys cry, admit to being afraid, and even have mental breakdowns. This is book one of a series but there’s a back-story here that slowly emerges as the story progresses leaving the reader feeling that they’ve walked into a family conflict they don’t understand.

Rafe and his brother Ethan are very believable but the women, particularly Julia less so. Her obsession with fossils as others have observed borders on manic. Somehow Rafe deserves better. As I read on this book became heavy going. Unfortunately it was a book I could and did frequently put down. I’ll accept that the author has written good books but this is not one of them.

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