The Last Good Horse
Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)
SYNOPSIS of THE LAST GOOD HORSE:
The plot unfolds as Billy Bartell languishes in a Montana prison hospital eager to tell the truth about the days of his youth when he rounded-up horses for East coast slaughterhouses. It was in 1939 when seventeen-year-old Billy leaves Billings to seek his fortune. For Billy the choice is simple: work the family funeral home or work the Pryor Mountain meadowland capturing wild mustangs. Ironically, Billy substitutes one death trade for another, for not only does he master rounding-up horses, he learns how to slaughter and render the animals by the thousands and pack their carcasses in iced-down boxcars. Through it all, he must come to terms with his newfound craft. You see, he has made a pact with the devil in the guise of Captain Belial, his ranch foreman. Getting out of a pact with the devil is never easy especially when you are seventeen and possess a conscience.
THE LAST GOOD HORSE runs much deeper than the morality play it might appear to be on the surface. The story is not only a study in the systematic killing off of the mustang herds in the 1930s but also a revisionist look at American morals of that same bygone era. In 1939 America teetered on the brink of a new awakening. America wavered between innocence and sinfulness brought on by a world stage in disarray. Billy Bartell represents that America, standing with one foot in heaven and one foot in hell. He has lost himself to the lure of money and debauchery and the need to flee a miserable home life at any cost. In the end, he hopes to salvage his soul for at age seventeen he is neither child nor adult. He is Dante. He is every human searching for heaven.
No story would be complete without a romance. Love has a way of nurturing lost souls; lost souls have a way of finding each other through life's random chaos. Enter Polly, the effervescent teen prostitute with whom Billy falls madly in love. The problem, however, is Polly's addiction to heroin coupled with her grand illusions of becoming a Hollywood starlet. Eventually, Billy gives her all of his money to pursue an acting career, only later to discover she has overdosed on 'black tar.' Brokenhearted, Polly's death serves as a catalyst for Billy's ultimate decision over who dies next—the last herd of wild horses on Pryor Mountain or the humans attempting to kill them.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot: This painful, powerfully rendered work of historical fiction focuses on the unconscionable practice of capturing and slaughtering horses and a man’s struggle to reconcile his past.
Prose: Anderson’s writing is both raw and melancholic. Descriptions of the Montana prairie lands and horses are lyrical, while the violence inflicted upon the wild animals is both stark and at times unbearable for sensitive readers.
Originality: Anderson’s story is highly original as, in part, the subject matter reflects such a dark and infrequently broached chapter of animal cruelty in America’s past. In execution, the novel takes a unique, retrospective approach to storytelling.
Character Execution: Readers will struggle with their relationship to the central character, as he is sympathetic despite his acts of violence. Additional characters allow the historical place and period to come alive.
Date Submitted: June 30, 2020
Reviews
Albert Botha, President, Save the Mustang Foundation
“An absolutely brilliant tale. . . . one of the first to tell it the way it really happened.”
Alicia Nation, President, NM Mustang & Burro Association
“David Martin Anderson’s compelling novel takes the lid off nostalgic illusions about wild mustangs being part of the ‘Proud Heritage’ of the American West. Anderson reveals a depth of human brutality and greed, and places before us a crisis of conscience over the violence towards horses, slaughter, and profiteering that continues today. ‘The Last Good Horse’ takes us out of our comfort zone and demands that we look squarely at our mercenary past. . . . and reminds us of the forgiveness, beauty, selfless service and grace granted to us throughout history by the horses.”
Amazon Books
“One of the twenty greatest horse stories ever written.”
Boerne Business Journal
“. . . Anderson’s tale masterfully guides the reader to discover (or re-discover) the unique and sacred bond between man and horse that has been passed on for centuries.”
David Hesse, Ex. Dir., Mustang & Wild Horse Rescue of GA
“David Martin Anderson has done a remarkable job bringing together the mysterious spirit of the mustang and man’s cruelty to his partner and friend for so many years, intertwining fiction with historical fact.”
G. Ray Field, Director, Wild Horse Foundation
"One of the best stories ever written on the exploitation of our mustang herds. David Martin Anderson weaves a gripping and emotional tale of murder and slaughter in Montana in 1939."
Horse Association Endorsements
Wild Horse Preservation League
Mustang & Wild Horse Rescue of GA
Saving America’s Mustangs
Save the Mustang Foundation
NM Mustang & Burro Association
Wild Horse Foundation
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
Beaty Butte Wild Mustang Rescue
