This western story is written by Johnny D. Boggs who has won a spur award for one of his western stories. This story was interesting but I had a hard time getting involved while reading it. The style that it was written, made it hard to get into the flow of the story. The author wrote it as a diary of a boy covering a long period of time.
I definitely disagree with the dust jacket review of the story. The dust cover said it was about how a stage stop got its name. In my observation after reading the book it presented its self to me as a boys growth to maturity during a hard time in western history. The time was just prior to and during the Civil War involving a family, where the mother had died and the oldest son had gone to West Point. The oldest son graduates and become a Dragoon part of the Army protecting the travelers of the west. The complications of the beginning of the Civil War hits this family of strong minded men hard. The impact was so complete that it threw them apart. Father against son and brother against brother which was a common happening during this time frame.
The story to me would have been more engaging and a better read for me if the style had been different. I would recommend this book to western readers who would like to view a different style of story telling. I am trying to evaluate all styles of writing as I progress on proof reading the story I wrote in the month of November.
