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. (Did you read the lead article in this issue?)

Ride the Desperate Trail - Mike Kearby

Ride the Desperate Trail.

By Mike Kearby.

Austin: Trail’s End Books, 2007. pbk 192 pages, map ISBN 978-0-09788422-7-7 http://www.mikekearby.com/

Freeman Anderson and Parks Scott are back after their introduction in The Road to a Hanging, and Lou Halsell Rodenberger describes this second of a Western trilogy as “believable…. With deft characterization and historical accuracy.” This time the despicable Tig Hardy captures Clara, now Free’s wife, and the rescue is off and running. Clean writing and sharp characterization move the reader along. Clara emerges as a full partner, inventive and persistent, as Free and Scott battle the elements and fight their way through desperados, the desert, the mountains, back through El Paso, and finally make peace in the Big Bend winter retreat of the Apaches. It’s rather pleasant that Free is relieved of venting his anger in violence when Tig meets his demise by other hands as “No man escapes his own times.”

Road to a Hanging - Kearby

The Road to a Hanging.

By Mike Kearby. Austin: Trail’s End Books, 2007. pkb. 188 p. $18.00. ISBN 978-0-9788422-6-0 http://www.mikekearby.com/

Elmer Kelton and James Ward Lee have Kearby in their sights and have fired off comments confirming Kearby’s work is an action packed Western. And it is. Kearby, a Mineral Wells native, former school teacher, and holder of irrigation patents, turned to writing and his Texas legacy is clear and he stakes out a fresh path. Freedom Anderson, the principal character, escapes his 1860s slavery as the Civil War rages, joins the Union Army, and, after action at Palmetto and the war’s end, finds his way back to Texas but old racial habits of another war veteran place him on the road to a handing. Freedom finds himself captured by the hatred of the sheriff, subject to false allegations. Parks Scott, Freedom’s pal, hears the news. But will it be too late? Pick up the book and find yourself moving at a fast clip to find out.

It’s good reading. Good values, loyalty, hard work, and daring to boot. The volume is marketed as a YA novel is some quarters, and it is fit for the public school set. (Thanks to publicist Stephanie Barko for the copy.)