Saturday, June 13, 2015

"Wanderlust Creek and Other Stories" by Elizabeth Grace Foley

I initially bought this as an e-book, but then liked it so well I went ahead and bought the paperback too.  I'm finding that's what happens with me and the occasional e-book I read on my phone:  if I like it a lot, I buy a "real" copy.  If they're available, that is -- sometimes I read out-of-print books on my phone cuz that's the only way to get them.

Anyway!  Time to discuss this book!  Like Foley's earlier collection, The Ranch Next Door and Other Stories, this is a mix of several short stories and a novella.  My favorite was the novella, "Wanderlust Creek," and I also liked "Single-Handed" and "The Rush at Mattie Arnold's" especially well.

"Wanderlust Creek" is about a newlywed couple trying to make a go of ranching on a small spread that butts up against a very big ranch.  There are disputes over water, an attempted lynching, and all sorts of exciting goings-on.

"Single-Handed" follows a famous gunman who has returned to a town he knows well, harboring a secret he's afraid will make his acquaintances turn their backs on him.  It has a splendid ending.

"The Rush at Mattie Arnold's" takes place in a little restaurant, where a couple young cowhands get accused of armed robbery, and it's up to the proprietor and her waitresses to figure out if they're innocent or not.  I liked the somewhat unusual setting in particular -- not a lot of western stories set in an eatery.

Once again, Elizabeth Grace Foley has created some clean, enjoyable, highly readable western fun.  I just hope she includes "Corral Nocturne" in her next collection, because that's my favorite story of hers so far!

If This Was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for mild western violence.

2 comments:

  1. This actually looks really good! I tend not to love westerns, but this looks like a fun, not too gory book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No gore. This is like a 60's TV show level of violence. And there's really no gunfire in several of the stories! Same goes for her previous western collection.

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