I bought volume 1 while in Tombstone last January. Unfortunately #2 wasn't available. I am finally purchasing #2 via Amazon. They are a fountain of information that strike to the core of many of these "stalwarts". The 1st was a valuable aid in my historical/genealogical research and I know the 2nd will be even better!!!

"Cochise County Stalwarts" is a compilation of biographical essays about hundreds of the men and women who lived (and sometimes died) in or near Tombstone, Arizona, back in the days of the "Wild West". Some names are familiar to anyone versed in Western history: Wyatt Earp, Johnny Ringo, and Buckskin Frank Leslie. But most of the people profiled in the book would come under the heading of "ordinary citizens", even if sometimes they led rather extraordinary lives. This is a book which provides a wealth of background information behind the famous story of the "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (of course, it really wasn't at the OK Corral, but "Gunfight in the empty lot down the street" just doesn't have the same ring to it), but is also highly enjoyable to browse through, learning about the fascinating people history usually does not mention.

220 million years ago, Arizona was near the equator. The trees that became the Petrified Forest grew on a broad, humid floodplain with lakes and swamps, somewhat like today's Amazon basin, or a more tropical Louisiana. Most of the trees that were petrified were araucaria conifers, related to present-day Norfolk Island pines. Swimming in these waters were prong-toothed sharks and thorny-snouted fish. Giant carnivorous metoposaurs lurked in the muddy swamp bottoms, while great crocodilian phytosaurs hunted the first true dinosaurs on dryer land.

Doug Henderson's moody, atmospheric paintings bring these scenes to life. Robert Long, formerly park paleontologist at Petrified Forest, assures scientific accuracy. Veteran natural-history writer Rose Houk brings polish to the text. McQuiston, as usual, provides an elegant book design. This is a beautiful book. It would be a fine companion for (or memento of) a visit to the Petrified Forest, and a nice gift for a dino-lover. Highly recommended.

I recommend this book without hesitation for anyone with an interest in paleontology. It provides a balanced view of all forms of life evident at the Petrified Forest National Monument during the Late Triassic, from fish and invertebrates to plants large and small and on up to the most gruesome ruling reptiles and amphibians.

The text is accurate and precise without ever obtrusively presenting theory as fact. This book will age well as future discoveries further refine or reshape our view of the world at that time.

The pencil (charcoal?) and pastel drawings are scientific illustration at its best, with just enough art and dynamic enhancement to make you feel like you really are skipping nimbly around 20 foot phytosaurs, or swimming with freshwater sharks through prehistoric logjams. Each full page drawing is explained by a facing page. Scale and perspective change early and often, leaving you eager to turn the page for the next visual diorama.

The layout is clean and visually elegant, the text easy on the eyes, and the illustrations are easily seen in light from any angle against the high quality semigloss paper.

I have had this book for ten years now, and I still frequently pick it up and let myself drift backwards in time with it until I am rocking gently in warm clear waters in a far prehistoric time. This is truly a first class publication by the Petrified Forest Museum Association. The authors and Museum Association are to be commended!

If you have been to Sedona this book will bring back pleasant memories. You may learn things about the area that you did not already know. If you haven't been to Sedona, you need to read this before you go. It is filled with anticdotal stories of real experiences of the unusual kind as well as helpful information about where to go and how to get the most out of your trip. Excellent. Highly recommend it.

If you have only a vague idea what Sedona, Arizona, is all about, this book is right for you. It answered many of my questions and gave a great overview of the vortexes in Sedona. Good book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, very classy. The book is a story of courage, decency, and integrity. It's nice to finally find an author who can write an adult story without having "adult" material. I intend to read more of Wheelers' writings. I trust his other novels are as brilliantly written.

This was the first book I read by a male author. I usually read Historial Romance by women authors. This book was very well written with good discriptions of characters, made you feel like you knew them. It was a book that i could not put down. I can not wait to read the rest of the Sam Flint series. Although I would not consider this an actual Romance novel it was filled with all the things of the West and how courage over came problems and how one mans love for a women had him doing what was in her best intrest instead of his own.

This book is for anyone who loves Alice Munro or Antonya Nelson or, for that matter, Edith Wharton or any other serious writer who works to create a complex and richly textured world. It's hard to believe that this is a first book. It's terrific.

My favorite story here is "A Gram of Mars", because it shows the lingering, telling effects of divorce on the child(ren) of the family. Not everyone has parents who are larger than life and impossibly strong; in fact, if you live long enough, no one does. The title story is so sad and so full of love..."Fugue" is magical and hilarious...and "Holding the Fort" was another standout. This author's writing reminded me of Lorie Moore, Anne Tyler, and maybe Francine Prose, just to give a general idea.

This book is a fine journey through internal and external space, past and present time. If you loved "The Man Who Walked Through Time" by Colin Fletcher, you will love this book. If you like learning history, geology and geography as stories about people, places, and creatures, you will like this book. If tensions between the rational scientist/humanist approach to life and the more spiritually-based approaches of those who are drawn to mysticism or earth-based religion spark your interest - you will like this book. And finally, if you are moved by the sincere effort of a parent and child to live in a caring, thoughtful, respectful relationship with each other, you will be moved by this book.

Michael Quinn Patton is an outstanding story-teller who pokes fun at himself as a father, hiker, scientist, man and human being throughout. The book describes his fascinating journey through the Grand Canyon as a coming of age ritual with his 18 year old son and a friend who serves as guide. Along the way, Michael weaves in ancient mythology, stories of the knights of the Round Table, the geology and geography of the canyon, his friend's teachings based upon Native American spirituality, his own approach to religion as a humanist Unitarian Universalist, and much more.

Both serious and comical in nature, this is a fine tale of one family's approach to raising children well, having great adventures, and ultimately understanding deeply that parents must turn their children loose with trust in their ability to act with wisdom, make mistakes, continue growing, and live their lives as they choose.

My favorite parts included (1)the journey to and from Merlin Falls, containing a classic example of "jumping off the 100 foot pole without knowing where you will land" as father and son face unexpected danger together, and (2)an adventure in emergency car repair that the author compares to making love in a touching yet hysterically funny way.

This would be a great book for parents and teens to read together and discuss, as well as a terrific story for people who are teens or older to enjoy and digest by themselves.

This is a book that takes you inside: inside the Grand Canyon; inside a father-son relationship; and inside the struggle to make meaning and to take understanding from life transitions. As Patton shares the cacophony of voices in his head -- past and present, his own and his father's, the landscape's and the academy's -- he reminds us of the the turbulence beneath our own surfaces. By paying attention to those voices, even when they confuse and confound, he reminds us of the gifts to be found when we are willing to live in the tension of not knowing.

I was drawn into the story, carried along by the fine writing and the wilderness adventures. I wanted to find out how this experience played itself out for Patton and his son. What would this ritual ultimately look like? Whose sensibilities would most inform it?

I was also drawn into the emotional and intellectual challenges Patton faces as he tries to create a meaningful experience for an 18 year old. Where is the fit of tradition? How can we create meaning without falling prey to mystical mumbo jumbo?

The answers they reach together are not a prescription for initiation rituals for the new age. They are, instead, an invitation for thoughtful inquiry into our own values and history. The answers challenge us to pose our own questions -- and to be relentless critical inquirers.

A very inspirational book and a must for anyone interested in the Grand Canyon. Betty's sense of humor captivated me throughout.

Ms. Leavengood delivers a captivating look at the lives of women who helped to shape the Grand Canyon - not geologically, but culturally. These early explorers helped to open up the Canyon for the millions who would follow, and the author does a great job in capturing the both the appeal of the Canyon and of the women who first made the trip. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Grand Canyon or the human spirit.

Renowned author and illustrator Wendell Minor takes readers on an extraordinary journey in the picture book GRAND CANYON. Minor, who has graced book covers with his art for more than twenty-five years, is also one of the most revered children's book illustrators around. He's done collaborations with Newbery Award-winning author Jean Craighead George, including EVERGLADES, ARCTIC SON, and the soon-to-be-published CLIFFHANGER, as well as critically acclaimed books with Eve Bunting, Anne Turner, and Charlotte Zolotow. Now, he tells of his experiences in one of America's most celebrated natural treasures, with lyrical text and stunning watercolors. For twelve days he spent time on the South Rim of the canyon, sketching and painting the huge rocks, the dramatic skies, and the abundant wildlife in the area. The colors are rich and intense, yet at the same time peaceful, perfectly complementing the words. You feel as if you're right there, standing over the canyon with space all around you. This is an excellent introduction for kids to a magnificent place, and even if, like me, you've never visited the Grand Canyon, you'll feel as if you were taking the journey and living the experience, too.

This is a thoughtful look at the wonders of the Grand Canyon as seen by a noted American illustrator who took his time to look carefully at and sketch some of that space. The gorgeous watercolors painted from his sketches convey the beauty and the color of the Grand Canyon and the accompanying text from his journal help put the images into perspective. Minor makes the spaces come alive.

This book was intense to say the least. The author's descriptive details kept me glued.

I usually stick with authors I am familiar with. This book held my interest from the beginning. I was especially interested in it since the author is also currently a police officer. He gives it the perspective that one would expect from someone in law enforcement who is knowledgable of the facts. I hope to see more of Clyde Hayden or at least more books from William Duff! I also found this book to have an ending that I enjoyed!

Erica Hill could get on your nerves. She certainly got on victim advocate Chloe Newcombe's nerves and, when Erica suggested getting together, Chloe made it a point not to call her. Two weeks later, Erica was dead and Chloe felt responsible. Her responsibility grew when the local police named Erica's precious son as a suspect.

The more Chloe investigated the case, the more she found that Erica had been to bed with just about every man she met. Yet, until recently, Erica had loved them and left them. Suddenly, about the time she'd contacted Chloe, she'd also contacted many of her former acquaintences looking for something. Like Chloe, however, few of them had bothered to listen. Except maybe someone had. Chloe can't believe that the murder is a coincidence. It has to be connected with whatever Erica was looking for.

Betsy Thornton has written a small gem of a mystery here. Her characters are well developed with both flaws and virtues that make the reader concerned for their safety and success. Her occasional use of poetic language is actually useful. I especially enjoyed her description of Arizona where old cowboys and aging hippies live side-by-side but in complete misunderstanding of one another.

As a mystery, HIGH LONESOME ROAD is one of the best I've read this year. Thornton disguises her red herrings well enough that even an experienced mystery reader will be confused.

I very much enjoyed this fine novel.

Two years ago, Chloe Newcomb left New York to relocate to Dudley, Arizona. Chloe inherited a home in the Old Dudley section of town from her deceased sibling's gay lover, who was like a big brother to her too. Chloe works a part-time schedule as a victim's counselor for the local police department. She not only helps individuals cope with crime, but also teaches classes.

Attending one of her classes is Erica Hill, a former neighbor of her brother in Venice, California. They agree to talk about old times, but Chloe never called. Chloe comes across old letters from her sibling that includes a comment wondering what happened to Erica. The next day, Chloe arrives at the murder scene of the bookmobile driver to provide comfort to retired schoolteacher Dot Stone, who discovered the corpse. To Chloe's shock, the body is Erica. Unable to mind her business, especially after rereading her brother's old letter, Chloe needs to know what happened to Erica, why it happened and what will happen to her teenage son?

As with her debut novel THE COWBOY RIDES AGAIN, Betsy Thornton provides readers with a deep feel for the smaller Southwest communities. Entities like bookmobiles make it seem like the 1950s to this aging urban boomer. The story line is entertaining and the characters appear genuine due to the secondary cast's interactions with Chloe. Ms. Thornton escorts her audience down the HIGH LONESOME ROAD with a strong regional cozy.

Harriet Klausner