Dark Trail to Dodge - Softcover

Tyrell Bannon is 18 and is working his first cattle drive. He's the youngest on a crew that will take 1,500 head from Texas to Dodge City. Heading up the drive is Dan Mitchell, a bowlegged, flinty-eyed veteran of numerous drives. Also on hand is John Checker, a former Texas Ranger with personal reasons for getting to Dodge; Jackson, a bespectacled black man with a passion for books; and misanthrope Henry Seals, who seems to thrive on causing grief. After an ambush scatters the herd and leaves many of Tyrell's saddlemates dead or wounded, Checker leads the survivors on a mission to recapture the herd and dispense justice to the bushwhackers. Author Smith, who has experienced trail drives firsthand, uses his knowledge to good effect, supplying a wealth of realistic details that will have readers tasting trail grit in their morning coffee. The characters are somewhat cliched but not enough to ruin an otherwise well-crafted, enjoyable western. Wes Lukowsky