by Ian Stansel
narrated by Jordan Killam
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Just released: July 4, 2017
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Contemporary, Western, California
Hardback: 208
Rating: 5
First sentence(s):
What are you doing, brother?
These words clung to the gnarled oak of Silas's consciousness, climbing, nesting, making themselves at home.
A contemporary Western debut about two brothers locked in a deadly feud, a woman on horseback trailing her husband’s killer, and the inescapable ties of home and family
When Silas Van Loy flees home on horseback to avoid capture for his brother’s murder, he is soon followed by both the police and his brother’s wife, Lena, who is intent on exacting revenge. She reluctantly lets her trusted stable assistant join her in a journey across the wilds of Northern California in the hopes of catching Silas for one final showdown. Stansel follows the chase and shares the story of the brothers’ rise from hardscrabble childhood to their reign as the region’s preeminent horse trainers, tracking the tense sibling rivalry that ultimately leads to the elder’s death.
A fully realized tale that challenges notions of the modern West, The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo will satisfy fans of Kent Haruf, Larry McMurtry, Molly Gloss, and Smith Henderson, and establish Stansel as a new voice in this grand tradition.
My two-bits:
Surely captures the western genre in a modern day setting. The location is set in my backyard (Marin county), so it was a treat to hear references to places I am familiar with.
The drama includes a cowboy on-the-run, a horse named Disco, a vengeful woman and a journey to an eventual showdown.
* Listened to audiobook version.
