This cautionary tale of buried treasure and murder shows how wrong choices lead to tragic results.
A debut author follows the dictum “Write what you know” by building a historical novel around an Old West myth from his corner of Utah.
As the title suggests, Swapp’s book centers on a long-buried treasure owned by the cantankerous Samuel Clevenger. The tale opens with two prisoners playing a hand of poker for their lives: “This was a card game of life or death. Each man’s fate was literally at hand. Each man, ever so clearly, knew the gravity of this game of fate.” How did hard-luck cowboy Frank Willson and mulatto ex–cavalry soldier John Johnson end up in this situation? The story flashes back to the two signing on to help Clevenger move with his sickly wife, Charlotte, and their adopted stepdaughter, Jessie, from the Arizona Territory to the Washington Territory in 1886. But Frank and John don’t know what kind of man Clevenger is until it’s too late. After Clevenger’s endless verbal abuse of both men and Jessie, to whom Frank has become attracted, the cowboy says, “I ’bout had enough of that old bastard, Jessie. I ain’t never seen anyone treat a woman so.” Soon thereafter, Clevenger and Charlotte are buried in a shallow grave, and the other three are fugitives, although not terribly smart ones, as they stand out while crossing through Mormon Utah and are soon caught, with John and Frank convicted of murder. Swapp’s meticulous research gives him a sturdy framework for his imagining of how and why this crime occurred and where Clevenger’s gold may still reside. As the author reveals in his introduction: “Although this story is written as historical fiction, the basic facts herein are absolutely accurate to the timeline and locations.” He skillfully alternates between the dangers the travelers faced, such as a perilous ferry ride across a powerful river and a Native American attack, and the safe oases that small settlements offered. Scant descriptions in historical records and publications of the time allow the author to fully develop characters who fit smoothly into his narrative. Swapp has successfully brought alive a little-known piece of Old West history and sweetened it with a potential $1 million in buried loot.
This cautionary tale of buried treasure and murder shows how wrong choices lead to tragic results.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61984-548-0
Page Count: 146
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
