Assessment:

 Plot: Spillman’s striking literary western, set in the rough mid-1800s, begins when Preacher Azariah DeVine, a missionary to the Apache Indians, brings his two sons Audie and Shane to the Arizona Territory. Often brutally violent, the book reflects the  lawlessness of its vivid historical setting.

Prose/Style:  Prose is crisp yet weighty. Captivating visual imagery and haunting dialogue further set this excellent work apart.

Originality: Spillman’s powerful narrative defies easy categorization. Raw and richly unexpected, with a fully realized sense of time and place, the novel provides an entirely immersive reading experience.

Character Development: Relying on the music they learned from their father and the skills they learned from their Apache father, the brothers travel across the country, finding love, reuniting with family, brutally avenging their father’s murderer and the man who “called for it”, until the book’s mysterious conclusion. None of the characters are rendered simplistically in this arresting work.

Date Submitted: August 14, 2019