From Publishers Weekly
Mexico in 1877, on the verge of Civil War, is the setting of Parker's latest western. The caudillos , large landowners with private armies, are poised to overthrow the government of President Porfirio Diaz. When Ken Larrway, a young American studying under a famed dueling master in Mexico City, kills the two sons of Ramos Zaldivar, leader of the caudillos , Zaldivar vows revenge. Larrway flees for his life, trying to traverse the dangerous 1100 miles to the U.S. border. Evading his pursuers, members of Zaldivar's private army, he finally takes refuge in the community of Janos, settled by Mormons who left Utah after the U.S. banned polygamy in 1862. Here he realizes that he must return to confront the caudillo . A rather sleazy subplot deals with white women who are kidnapped and sold into slavery and prostitution. Parker ( The Shadow Man ) shows little subtlety in character depiction, but he does manage to convey the atmosphere of those violent, revolutionary times.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The setting is Mexico in 1877; military chieftains roam and ravage the countryside. Zaldivar, the worst and the wealthiest, plans to wrest control of the government from President Diaz. Much of his wealth is gained from kidnapping and selling into slavery white women from settlements of polygamous refugees from the United States. Ken Larrway, a young gringo, incurs his enmity by killing his son and flees along El Camino Real, leaving a trail of corpses. He is reluctant to kill and quick to aid others in need. The author describes gun battles, terrain, and wildlife equally well, the first with enthusiasm, the last two with love. An exciting story with solid historical basis.
- Sister Avila, Acad. of the Holy Angels, MinneapolisCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
