I like Margaret Coel's casual style of writing. It has a good flow, and she writes in an interesting manner. I thought I had found a real winner in "Storyteller," was interested in the basic storyline. But the book just--ends. There is no big finish like one expects in a mystery. That is a serious flaw, I think.

Make Vick and Father John part of your life. They aren't perfect people like some characters in mystery books but they are good people who struggle with many issue that we do. Fine reading. Enjoyable through out.

I picked up another of Coel's mysteries set on the Arapaho Res. at the hospital giftshop, while desperate for something to read. I found it so good, I sought out the others available in the series. So far "Story Teller" is my favorite. It is a compelling mystery, and the regular characters are also quite realistic. Although not as introspective as Hillerman's Navajo characters; the mystery elements move along at a faster pace. I really like the new genre of mysteries set in-and somewhat illuminating for the nonIndian-the native nations of the West. Coel is one of the best of this genre.

I enjoyed reading this book although, not being a geologist myself, I found the wealth of details on drilling and the oil industry sometimes slowed it down. The heroine is likable albeit strangely defenseless for a woman who opted for a non-traditional career . The secondary characters are well drawn. All in all, an interesting story.

A hot babe on an oil rig, what more could you want in a mystery novel?

All of the novels in the Em Hansen series refer back to our young heroine's experience on the oil rigs of Central Wyoming. If you are a fan of the series, Tensleep is a must read. I am really surprised that this, Sarah Andrews first (and in some ways best) novel is out of print. The book is great. It is worth the $$$$ you will have to pay for a used copy.

In Tensleep, Em Hansen begins to discover her inner talents as an investigator. With a shiny new degree in geology, Ms. Hansen lands the traditional male job of mudlogger on a drilling rig. While handling all the garbage dished out by the good ole boy network in drilling, our young heroine finds more than she bargained for: The rig she is working is plagued by mysterious deaths and sabotage.

The work is fascinating, as Sarah Andrews describes the politics and processes of drilling for oil.

Sarah Andrews makes excellent use of drilling as a literary device. Em Hansen must solve both the mysteries of the oil company and that of the Tensleep formation. In my humble opinion, Tensleep is one of highlights of the Em Hansen series. I hope the publishers get their act in gear and print up a new edition for Sarah Andrews fans.

Sara Andrews has written a series of wonderful, human-scale mysteries about a woman geologist who has a habit of running into murders. She is a very approachable character, vulnerable, smart, dedicated, and hopeful-a very nice profile of a professional woman in a "non-traditional" field. In all her dealings with co-workers, family, lovers, and friends, she is entirely believable. A good read and a good series...I've read them all now, except the newest, which I just found had been published.

In "CrowHeart" by John Gist, Wyoming's frontier history and contemporary events are told through the eyes of a family that strayed from the beaten trail and settled in "The Big Empty" against the better advice of their fellow travelers.

It is the story of the Daniels family, descendants of a "crazy" group who left one of the main trails through Wyoming in the mid-1800s. Gist's first novel, published by a small press based in Mills, Wyo., is an exploration of some familiar themes very similar to Doig's: Connection to the land over generations, family troubles and complex conflicts in time, place and relationship. Gist's characters are so obsessed with individuality they skirt personal destruction. Gist has a ways to go before he's on a par with Doig, but the essence is there

Gist is a Wyoming native, with a master's of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. His poems and essays have appeared in small journals such as Parnassus and Colours, but Montfort Press of Mills, known mostly for its western historical non-fiction, chose his book as its first novel. The book's release in May 1999 was scheduled to commemorate the U.S. Congress's funding of the National Historic Trails Site, soon to be built outside Casper.

Set in contemporary Wyoming, CrowHeart, a novel by John Gist, shows the dark side and rivalries of the decendents of early Wyoming pioneers who left the trail to settle in central Wyoming...an area they call "The Big Empty."

It's story of mystery, deception, sexuality as the characters deal with the emptiness of their land and they deal with emptiness of their lives. Issac Daniels, the youngest of three brothers is haunted by his feelings towards his mother and her sudden death. He attempts to escape the memories of his families homestead, the Crowheart. He is haunted by those memories and other demons. It is difficult to find a likable character in the book. Issac's brothers and their wives carry their own dark secrets and find that, even pleasures of the flesh are unfulfilling. This is NOT the idyllic, romantic frontier of the old west.

Although it is a first novel, Gist shows a great ability to paint pictures in our minds. Those who have lived in Laramie and have spent any time at all at the University of Wyoming and the Snowy Range and the Shirley Rim area can easily see the areas and feel the atmosphere of locations. So few contemporary novels are set in Wyoming that as a setting, Wyoming landscape offers a refreshing change from other novels of the day. Gist gives us a different and startling vision of contemporary life that forces us to face the reality that the challenges and angst that some people feel at the end of the 20th Century are real even in Wyoming. One person's solitude is another person's barrenness. One person's "wide open spaces" is another person's "emptiness".

The following except is an example of how Gist paints a picture of a regular student hang-out at the University of Wyoming in Laramie:

"What do you say we go down to the Beer Garden for a couple of brews and some nachos?" he asks. Cassandra sits on the couch. "I'm buying," says Isaac.

"I was hoping we could talk," says Cassandra.

"We can talk down there," says Isaac. "This pit isn't exactly conducive for good conversation, and we're running low on smokes." He stands.

"Okay," says Cassandra, her voice edged with an air of defeat. She stands. "It'll do you good to get out of here for awhile."

Isaac starts for the bedroom. "Just let me find my boots."

In order to quash her desire to follow Isaac, Cassandra looks at the television.

Isaac drives his brother's truck through the University of Wyoming campus and parks in a visitor's parking slot in front of the Student Union. He turns off the ignition and waits for the engine to shiver to a stop. He opens the door and steps outside. Instead of climbing out of the passenger's door, Cassandra scoots across the seat and exits the truck from the driver's side. She stands next to Isaac. The breeze is as faint as baby's breath. The air is cold.

"Wind died down," says Cassandra.

"Temperature's dropping," returns Isaac. He takes Cassandra's hand and starts forward. "Let's get inside where its warm.

It is dusk. The oily sky muffles the footfalls of student and professor alike as they hurry towards the sanctuary of the wind-proof halls of academia. Electric lights flicker on illuminating the pines that stand like sentinels in front of the brick buildings. As the darkening intensifies and the pedestrians quicken their pace, Isaac and Cassandra walk easily, hand in hand, toward the certainty of beer and food and warmth inside the Student Union.

Downstairs in the Beer Garden, they find an empty table next to a rubber tree so large that its upper limbs are secured to the railings of the stairway, so it will not topple on the patrons below. After hanging their coats on the backs of the plastic chairs (to secure their rights to the table), they make their way, again hand in hand, toward the bar. A murmur of voices rises and falls rhythmically around them and is punctuated by bursts of laughter. Light flows down from bromide lamps, which hang from the high ceiling, basting with an orange hue, the hair, faces, and ingertips of the congregation below."

CrowHeart is a worthy first novel that shows a dark side of contemporary life. With a tone that challenges and a style that evokes strong emotions, we look forward to Gist's next work.

The Wyoming Companion

A pioneer tale of those who dared to stray from the beaten path of the Oregon/ Mormon Trail. It is the story of a family and it's descendants. I could just about smell the horses. If you've always dug old Western movies then you should like this one.

Leann Arndt, Reviewer

This guide was a staple for our ten day trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. In locating places to stay and activities to do this is a book to lead you to other books and web sites. Its approach to trail descriptions also allows for a day hiker to figure out what trails are popular and easy and what are difficult. It gave us several great ideas as well like boating on Lake Yellowstone and cheaper ways of fingin lodging.

This book was a great resource for planning and enjoying our trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

One of the best travel guides I have ever used (and I have traveled all over the world). As of the summer of 1998, when I visited Yellowstone, the guide was highly accurate and offered very useful ideas on where to hike, where to stay, where to eat, etc. The authors clearly know Yellowstone intimately, and should be complimented for imparting their enthusiasm about this marvelous park. My trip was one of the memorable in my life, and I was very grateful for the help I received from this concise guide.

I have read more western history than many and while the book is good as far as it goes, it overlooks most of who and what Tom Horn was. He hailed from Texas of German stock and had a very Wild West life - mining, Indian Scout, spoke the Apache language, worked with the legendary Al Sieber and was in on at least one capture of Geronimo. The Apache Chief in whose camp he learned their language called him Talking Boy, his Apache Name (used to describe one's character or most salient trait), and the one that proved his undoing. I believe Tom Horn was a great frontiersman and, like so many, used by the government, discarded without so much as a by-your-leave to either discard all the government had set his life to, or else be brought down. I believe many a Viet Nam Veteran will know whereof I speak on this. What is missing from this book is Horn's early experience, which is nowhere documented properly in print. He, Mickey Free, Al Sieber and a handful of other white and Apache scouts won the Apache Wars. And they were all dropped like hot rocks so soon as the war was over, with lesser men garnering glory and acclaim for what others in fact did. Tom Horn's story, here, shows what happens when a man out-lives his time, when a soldier used to truly vicious conditions plies his trade for his own purpose, and in service of the way of life he thought he was defending. I rate this at 3 stars only because I wanted to more know about Tom Horn from this book, and less about the penny-ante locals. The book's evidence shows pretty clearly, to my mind, that Tom Horn was railroaded to top it all off.

This is a 'must read', for anyone interested in the 'Old West' and 'cattle country'. Mr. Krakel, dis-spells rumor and conjecture about Tom Horn. Through newspaper articles and interviews with the people who were 'around' at the time, Mr. Krakel, unfolds a story of mystery surrounding the killing of a 14-yr. old boy. With actual court transcripts, he relates the trial of a Wyoming 'Stock Detective'and his eventual hanging. This is about as close to the truth as we may ever get on the subject of Tom Horn. This review is in regard to the 'un-expurgated' edition.

The Saga of Tom Horn is a very good book on the trial of Tom Horn.It recreates the trial that found Tom guilty,and hanged him for the death of a 14 year old boy. A crime a lot of people including me belives he did not do. The book is very detailed on the trial, and about Tom Horn himself. A must read for all western history buffs.

Walker's Crossing was The best book I have Ever read. Usually when I read a book, I get bored and I don't finish the book. When I read Walker's Crossing, I read the book. I was very interested in the book. I used to want to be a cowboy when I was younger.When Lon Walker got hurt,I thought it was cool that Gil Walker and Ryan Walker helped out on the Ranch.If I was a girl, I would want to be a Junior Rodeo Queen too.Charlene never gave up.I learned alot about what cowboys really do on a Ranch.I urge everyone in the world to read Walker's Crossing. It's a great book.

"Walker's Crossing" is an excellent example of historical fiction as it brings to life the prejudicial views of the Ku Klux Klan and shows how prejudice affects a community. Ryan Walker is a seventh grade boy who lives on a ranch in rural Wyoming. All Ryan wants is to be a cowboy for Saddlebow Ranch, where his father is the foreman. Ryan's good-for-nothing 22-year old brother, Gil, becomes involved with the Mountain Patriots Association, a group formed to drive out all "minorities" from the area.

Ryan's best friend, Matt, becomes a junior member of the Patriots and starts spreading racial propoganda around their junior high school. Then a friend's father is killed in a helicopter crash caused by the Patriots, and Ryan tries to help his friend deal with the loss of his father. Ryan's brother, Gil, is put in jail.

Throughout the book, Ryan is described as being "too tall and too skinny", made fun of because of his appearance. This story uses prejudice and differences among people to explore how we find common ground and acceptance in order to build character. Ryan remains true to his friends, despite ridicule from others, and finds an inner strength he did not know he possessed. At the end of the story, he is offered that job at Saddlebow - and Ryan learns that honesty, integrity and trust win over hatred and ignorance.

A wonderful story for young people and adults alike.

Many young boys dream of becoming a cowboy, but Ryan is somewhat different because he wants to be a working cowboy in Wyoming. His brother's association with a local militia group throws stumbling blocks into Ryan's path as he learns how to overcome obstacles and the meaning of maturity. Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat gives an appropriately gripping read to this saga.

The conclusion in the Wilde trilogy, Ace's story was not, in my opinion, the best of the three (though he is certainly the most charming brother!), but it was highly enjoyable. The sparks and feuds between Ace and Ally only serve to heat things up, and for those who were waiting for Ace to finally meet his match in a woman, you won't be disappointed. The characters in the Wilde trilogy are rich and full of life...Ally and her cantankerous grandfather, the newcomers in this book, personify the characterization standards we have come to expect from Ms. Langan by the end of this trilogy. Though my personal favorite is Chance, I would swoon for any of these three brothers.

This last installment of Ruth Langan's trilogy, The Wildes of Wyoming, is fulfilling and just a bit surprising in terms of plot. It is the characters, however, who drive this plot towards an excellent finish.

Ace Wilde comes into contact with Ally Brady in Clancy's where she is systematically hustling the cowboys out of their money by feigning ignorance when it comes to pool. By the night's end, she cons our unvanquished hero, a qualified target in her eyes, out of a thousand dollars. Ace is left drunk, humiliated, and enraged. But of course Ally is not the mercenary she seems to be. She needs the money to help her grandfather whom she loves dearly and has finally come home to.

Danger threatens the Bradys as well as the Wildes and they successfully deal with this unexpected, and overarching, dilemma. In the meantime, Ace and Ally have their hands filled trying to outhustle each other into a happy ending and coming to terms with the love they are coming to share.

I really enjoyed getting to know both Ace and Ally. I had been looking forward to Ace's story from the start and was not disappointed.

The Wildes of Wyoming is a trilogy that is memorable and enjoyable. The bond between the brothers and how they make the most of their father's legacy is wonderful to read about. I have to admit that Hazard is my favorite of the three brothers. I really found myself admiring and respecting Ace as a hero because his dependability manifests itself when he puts his heart on the line and falls in love with Ally.

Ruth Langan does a superb job of making you wish there were more Wildes of Wyoming out there with this book. Ace is the wily rogue that we all wish was waiting for us on our doorstep at the end of the day. Ally is the one woman who is even better at pool than this charming hustler. The interaction of Ace and Ally is charming to watch as she finds out that her new boss is the person who she deprived of $1000 the night before at the local pool hall. Ruth does a wonderful job in tying up the series and yet giving us a glimpse of the lives that she has introduced us to in the two previous books. "Ace" beautifully stands alone, but the other two books should be read, if you haven't already, as you'll want more of the Wildes of Wyoming when you finish. This book is a definite must-read of the summer.

We just returned from a three-week cross-country trip, with a four day stop in Yellowstone. This book was o.k. to read before the trip to familiarize yourself with the park, but was useless as a reference guide once we were there. We basically gave up on it and used our Frommers Guide to the Western National Parks. The index is incomplete, the maps are cartoonish and difficult to read, and some of the explanations in the question-answer format with"ranger Norm" made me feel as if they were questioning my intelligence. My husband and I both couldn't believe they showcase this book prominently in the Yellowstone visitor's Centers!

The way the books of this series work is that they took a guide for new rangers in Yosemite with the 100 or so most frequently asked questions, and wrote their own answers for each park. So in each book the questions are very similar but the answers might be very different.

It's a great format because it makes for easy reading beforehand, but it's also quick as a reference when you're there because they're arranged in an intelligent order. There's also a huge reference section at the end with lists, copies of permit forms, and so forth. So the thing to do is read the FAQ before you leave but bring the book and refer to it once you're there.

I've only been to Yellowstone once and had no idea where to stay, or which hotels were near which sites and so forth. This book really cleared it up for me and we had a great time.

Don't let the cover fool you. This book is great. Lots of details. Great recommendations on hotels to stay outside the park when the inside ones are book. My niece and I had a blast reading it as we went. We even ran into a bear jam, you'll have to read the book to find out what that is all about. If your looking for a book to simplfy your life and make this trip the best. Buy it! Don't let the cartoons fool you this book has all the details in great form for all. Buy it before you leave so you know where your going. THE BEST, ENJOY.

This story was ridiculous! Simone, the main character, could never exist in real life. She was way too perfect and innocent to have been abused her whole life. And she was far too logical about the reasons for her abuse as well. I was horribly disappointed in this book. Anyone who has experienced abuse as a child would know that Simone's scars would not be so readily healed, nor would she have reacted the way she did to the other characters in the story.

This book was interesting. I have been fascinated with the Harvey Girls for a while, but haven't had the opportunity to read much about them (other than watching the Judy Garland movie). I liked the way that Ms. Peterson wove historical elements into her fictional landscape. The country was a different place in the late 1800s and I believe that this story illustrates that. Simone's father held dominion over her in everyway until he sold her--and even then, still controlled her life through fear of discovery. Only with the redeeming power of her confession to God, love of Jeffery can she take back her life--but first she has to learn not only to trust again, but to allow people to become close to her.

A good book and I am going to pick up book 2.

I loved this book! I found myself on edge, wondering if she was going to be found. I love the romance and intrigue combination.

Although this book seems to contain a well documented, and at times, interesting account of Tom Horn and the Nickell murder, its about as much fun to read as a treatise on the history of linear-regression analysis. Mr. Carlson's poorly constructed syntax and meandering story lines makes this book a "plodding" experience.

An exceptional documentary dealing with one of Wyoming's most notorious citizens, one that reads like a novel. Although much has been written about Tom Horn, Chip Carlson has done an excellent job of presenting new facts and information furthing adding to the controversey over Horn's guilt in the murder of young Willie Nickell.

Chip Carlson has established himself as the most prolific and knowledgeable Tom Horn buff since Dean Krakel, and his work is extraordinarily readable. To understand a true American (choose your own term) outlaw, rogue, bounty hunter, lawman, Westerner ... whatever ... pick up Carlson's work, which is full of the grittiness that haunts the legend of Horn.