Review - To the River's End - 5 stars

In this novel entitled "To the River's End"  by the William and J. A. Johnstone family, the reader will be introduced to an ongoing story of American mountain men and fur trappers. Luke Ransom is the main protagonist in this book.  Luke had a hard life with his parents deserting him and being raised by his aunt and uncle.  He felt a need to be on his own and at the tender age of 18 answered an ad published in a St. Louis paper to sign on with The American Fur Company.  This was a life-altering moment for him.

He is a handsome and large young fellow and becomes quite adept at following and trapping the elusive beaver.  After working for the Company for five years he decides it is time to go free-trapping.  He discovers that his company team has been attached and killed by the Blackfeet braves who are not keen on whites in their territory, although this is where the beaver are plentiful.

He helps another fellow trapper who is under attack by this same tribe, and they successfully fight off the only two braves in this attack.  After going to the rendezvous, he and the trapper whom he saved become partners.  The older man takes Luke under his wing and as they say, "let the adventure begin." And indeed, it does. Starting with a fellow American Fur colleague who seems to want to kill or punish the young man.

Overwintering in the high mountains where beaver stand at your door waiting to be trapped might be stretching it a bit but they do find plentiful game and beaver with prime pelts.  However, they are in the middle of Blackfeet territory and that brings its own dangers.  The interactions between the trappers and Indians is exciting but not safe.  Good to read about but not experience.

This book gives a reader the vicarious experiences of living in those days in the early 1830s.  Full of adventure and excitement going from calm and placid to death defying feats the next moment.  An enjoyable book for sure and I highly recommend it.

 

Review - Biscuits and Gravy - 5 stars

The Johnstone writing organization has another hit on its hands in the book entitled "Biscuits and Gravy." This one introduces a new character named Dewey (Mac) MacKenzie, at least new to this reader, .  Mac seems at first like a regular drifting cowhand.  But there are things lurking in his past including being wanted for murder in New Orleans.

His introduction comes after stopping in a saloon in Harcourt City for a drink and then stepping in to keep a very pretty girl, Becky,  from getting punched by a ne'er-do-well local cowboy/tough. This leads to a fight and a confrontation with the law.  Things happen as might be expected in any western novel.  Good guys and bad guys, but in this case is the supposed good guy also a murderer?

After some revenge-taking by the local toughs, Mac is helped back to health by the aforesaid young woman and her brother, Marcus, who own a ranch and he ends up helping them organize a cattle drive.  Cattle drives are notoriously hard and this one is no exception and is filled with adventures. Mac is a heck of a chuck wagon cook and keeps the crew in good eats.

But other things intervene including a detective out to arre
st Mac on murder charges.  When it seems as if things might be settling down the "big dog" in the little town where Mac started -Oscar Harcourt--makes a play to take over the herd, ranch, and pretty Miss Becky..

A good character for the Johnstone conglomerate to focus more on in future stories.  The adventure is first rate and made for a very enjoyable read.

Review - Damn Lucky - 5 stars

 The memoirs of Second Lieutenant John “Lucky” Luckadoo are brought to live in the book, Damn Lucky by Kevin Maurer.  Set in the beginning of WW II in the U.S. and our entry into the European war after being attached at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, this traces a young man's hopes, desires, fears as well as hi formidable spirit.

The book outlines his desire to join the Air Corp first in Canada and his parents refusing before the US actually entered the War to his time when we were in the think of the fighting.  His best friend was allowed by his parents to go to Canada and he joined as a fighter pilot.  Lucky wanted to be a pilot more than anything and this memoir traces his journey form almost washing our of flight school to being assigned to the multi-engine B-17 Super Fortress.


The job of the B-17 pilots was to conduct daytime raids when the German Luftwaffe was at its strongest in the early 1940s and just waiting for a chance to shoot down these large lumbering beasts who could rain destruction onto the Nazi territory,

The memoirs trace Lucky's hopes and fears...much as any young man might have being shoved into service in a war where he actually volunteered.  

The book is well written and definitely has the feel of an war adventure novel.  When the reader realizes that this is not a cardboard cut-out but a real human who has his hopes, fears, desires, it becomes much more real.  Having to complete 25 bombing missions is needed before rotating back to the US is difficult as losses of life or capture by the Germans is much more likely than success.  Near misses and luck is with Lucky and he survives.

A good read for those interested in World War II and how "boys" were forced to become men overnight and fight for the way of life of us in the United States. It is especially good for those of us who only had fathers, uncles, and brothers who may have fought since we were born after the war.  It gives us some insight into this war that we, at least I, was missing. There are some good history lessons here including why the term 12 o'clock high was a feared position.for fighters.

Review - Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown - 4 stars

 The book Fallout by  Steve Sheinkin, brings back lots of personal memories of the time when we were involved with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.  The threats of nuclear annihilation were real, probably on both sides but the M.A.D. (mutually assured destruction) as well as some lucky breaks for human kind prevented us from being eliminated as a species.

The book is obviously focused on a younger reader who did not live through these turbulent times.  For this
purpose, it seems to have met its goal of being a warning to this current generation for whom the threats of Cuban Missile Crisis don't seem real and maybe are covered in a paragraph, if that, in current history texts.

The book reads sort of like a novel but carries the ominous message that there are still forces at work in the world that all people need to on constant watch for their potential for evil. It is well written and covers a time period when there were, as stated in the subtitle "Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown."