Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Escaping into the fantasy of his books when he’s not working in the general store, Ethan has lived a sheltered life in his mother’s boarding house. One day, an enigmatic cowboy passing through the small Texas town takes an immediate liking to the shy seventeen-year-old. Ethan is intrigued by the attention, and the cowboy eventually charms him into signing on to a 900-mile cattle drive. Ethan soon finds that his feelings for this cowboy run deeper than just friendship. He never knew that this kind of love even existed; and now for the two of them to make a life together in the untamed west, they must face nearly insurmountable odds if they are to survive.

BOOK REVIEW:
Unsure and fairly immature Ethan is a perfect match for the kind but strong and much more worldly-wise Travis Cain. Love between the two grows slowly. This felt real and appropriate for the era in which the story was set (Texas 1878).

Most of the book is told from Ethan’s point of view. He is a delightful narrator, vewing the things he sees with a child’s wonder. Occasionally we glimpse life through the more sober eyes of Travis and Willie, Ethan’s brother. However, the author had a strange habit of occasionally stepping outside his story, appearing to address the reader directly. One example: “We already know that when Ophelia has something she doesn’t want to deal with, she tends to bury it inside her and ignore it.”

On the whole, Probst is not sympathetic to most of his female characters. Mrs Cain probably comes out the best. His male characterization is more satisfying. From the dependable and loving Travis to the dower Amos, the sheriff’s deputy, Probst gives us a rich variety of people each distinctly drawn.

Descriptions of the changing landscape during the cattle drive gave the reader a real sense of being there. We were given a rich helping of the trials, joys and tragedies that such a long journey on horseback would have entailed.

Once the cattle drive was over, the storm clouds began to gather and things for Ethan and Travis seemed to move from bad to worse and thence to even worse. The author did a good job of making me fear for the future of his characters.

This is Mark R. Probst’s debut novel. While there is room for stylistic improvement, this is a great foundation from which to build. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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