The Western Fiction Shelf

Me an' Gus
James D. Crownover
Five Star Publishing
c/o Gale Cengage Learning, Inc.
20 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA 02210
https://www.gale.com/five-star
www.cengageptr.com
9781432895853, $25.95, HC, 245pp

https://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Effie-Frost-K-Hollenbeck/dp/1432895850

Synopsis: When Comanches killed their fathers, young Sutter "Sut" Lowery an=
d August "Gus" Bell became the primary supporters of their families until t= heir mothers married again. One night, Gus's mother is beaten again by her = husband. Gus kills Ben and dumps the body in a sinkhole.

That night, Sut and Gus hit out for tall cane. And thus begins the odyssey =
of Sut and Gus into the world of cattle drives, rustlers, Indians, horses, = and manhood.

Sut discovers he has inherited his mother's gift of prescience and rescues = two white children from a Comanche trap.

At the crossing of the Arkansas, Gus and Sut work to eliminate a gang of th= ugs from control of the ford. In Abilene they attempt to stop a kid from ro= lling a drunk -- and end up wanted by half the town and a bunch of vaqueros=
.. They also battle an old Mountain Man who is killing the ranch's cattle.

Sut and Gus's exploits take them far and wide in this coming-of-age adventu= rous saga set in the American west.

Critique: The stuff of which popular western mini-series are made for telev= ision, "Me an' Gus" clearly showcases author James D. Crownover's storytell= ing skills and why he has receieved the Spur Award for his western novels. = Original, entertaining, laced with historical accuracies with respect to th=
e handling of cattle in the west, "Me an' Gus" is a terrific read from begi= nning to end and highly recommended for both the personal reading lists of = dedicated western novel fans and community library Western Fiction collecti= ons.

Editorial Note: James D. Crownover (https://historicalnovelsociety.org/by/j= ames-d-crownover) began writing a historical novel about four generations o=
f a mixed Cherokee family that migrates from Tennessee to New Mexico Territ= ory in the nineteenth century. His novels include: "Wild Ran the Rivers" (w= hich in 2015 won two Western Writers of America Spurs for best historical n= ovel and best first novel); "The Battle of Half Moon Mountain"; "Picketwire=
Vaquero" (which was recognized in 2017 by True West Magazine as Best of th=
e Rest Frontier Fiction); "Tales of the Last Frontier"; "Triple Play" (whic=
h was finalist in the Will Rogers Medallion Awards and also the 2017 New Me= xico-Arizona Book Awards); "The Ox That Gored"; and "If These Walls Could T= alk".

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
s from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these=
reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, inte= rnet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested indivi= duals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "Califo= rnia Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwat= ch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available=
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: ---:- FTN<->UseNet Gate -:--- (3:633/280.2@fidonet)