I, QUANTRILL revisited

Here's a review from Tome of the Uknown Blogger:

I have previously admitted to a fondness for old western novels written by Louis L’Amour. Although I have read a handful of other authors, I just haven’t found a single writer that could hold my attention. Until now.

I had been looking to sign a certain paperback copy of Louis L’Amour’s “Bad Medicine” out of the bookmobile again in order to write a little piece about it here. I wasn’t having much luck, but week after week I was seeing this book, titled “I, Quantrill." On a whim I signed it out. I’d never heard of Max McCoy before, and was interested to learn he was from Kansas and that he has a penchant for the Ozarks in Missouri and Arkansas.

“I, Quantrill” was an excellent book. Well written with characters who seemed almost to live and breathe, I think, due to the details revealed about them.

Here's the full review. He's forgiven for having never heard of me. Check out the blog -- the UB writes powerfully about losing his wife, Shelley, to cancer. Perhaps that is one reason he connected with the melancholy tone of I, QUANTRILL.

Trickster

An all-but-tame coyote stole near me while I was unpacking the Jeep in the Mojave. He must have given up hunting long ago in favor of freeloading, because he seemed uninterested in a plump Gambel's Quail nearby.

Dawn

In the Mojave Desert, about 75 miles southeast of Las Vegas. This photo was taken last week, when the temperature hit 118 degrees in the shade.

Church Rock

Just returned from a research trip to the Mojave Desert. Along the way stopped at Church Rock, just off Highway 160 in northwestern New Mexico.

Flint Hills Bee

Took a drive Sunday to Pioneer Bluffs, a mile north of Matfield Green in Chase County. Drove the Jeep up a rocky road to the top of a ridge. Found this bee and milkweed flower. Not usually into shooting flowers, but I couldn't resist. Honey bees were symbols of resurrection and immortality for the Merovingians (which I learned when I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail some 15 years ago). Also, honey bees are not native to North America. The Indians knew European culture was coming when honey bees began to appear.