Until Shadows Fall: A Western Story [Large Print]

By Will Cook

Book Overview

Selected with the classic Western fan in mind, this series draws from the work of the acknowledged masters of Western fiction and some contemporary authors writing in the traditional Western style. Also included are anthologies and collections of short works by favorite authors.It is 1874. With peace established between the U.S. and the Comanche nation, citizens who lost children to Comanche raids are pressuring Congress for their return. The task falls to Colonel Frazer at Fort Elliott in Texas, who dispatches Lieutenant Jim Gary and Sheriff Guthrie McCabe to negotiate with Chief Iron Hand for the release of all white prisoners. The mission is preposterous at best: most captives regard themselves as Comanche now, and would not leave the families they formed during their captivity -- and the Comanche would rather resume the war than submit to this degradation.

• Format: Hardcover
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786218525
• ISBN13: 9780786218523
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr
• Length: 427 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

not your typical western

Long-time readers may recognize the bulk of this work as a rewritten edition of Comanche Captives (also published as Two Rode Together, under which title it was made into a John Ford film starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark). Unlike the stereotypical western, where the good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad, the major characters here have elements of both, and the only unforgivable sin is stupidity. Cook's writing is spare and unadorned, and perfect for the subject matter: the book depicts one of the most dismal periods of settler-Indian relations, the forced return of captives, taken mostly by the Comanches, and clearly shows that, far from coming back to joyful reunions with their families, most of the captives had been so assimilated that they no longer had any conception of(or wish for) white society. One of the strongest points made by the book is that even the best intentions can have tragic consequences, and sometimes it is better to leave well enough alone.