Twisting in Air by Carol Bradley

 

First Line: Tall, ebony-haired Chuck Roberson had landed his dream job in Hollywood.

 

Westerns had long been a moviegoer favorite, and Hollywood cranked them out by the dozens. However, it wasn't until the 1940s that movie studios agreed to abide by the Hollywood Production Code's ban on cruelty to animals, which meant they had to stop using deadly tripwires, tilt chutes, and covered pits. Filmmakers still wanted to depict horses falling in battle so they had to start looking for "acting" horses who could fall to the ground on command.

 

A thoroughbred-quarter horse mix named Cocaine ("Coke") overcame a debilitating injury to become the fastest falling horse of all. Coke was one of only two dozen horses who mastered the athleticism required to fall safely at will. He doubled many times for John Wayne's horse, Dollor, and appeared in several Westerns directed by John Ford. 

~

If you grew up watching Westerns in movie theaters or on television, like I did, you're bound to find Twisting in Air fascinating. Carol Bradley's book is an absorbing look at the early dark history of stunt horses in movies, to its heyday, and on to the present day. I've been a horse lover my entire life, and I'm glad I didn't watch those early Westerns before the Hollywood Production Code's ban on cruelty to animals. 

I learned so much about the training and development of falling horses, but-- as usual-- it was the relationship between rider and horse that was key. The relationship explored the most in Twisting in Air is between stunt rider Chuck Roberson and his horse Cocaine. Roberson was the inspiration for the TV series "The Fall Guy," and he doubled for John Wayne many times.

This book explores the entire history of stunt riders and horses, from the early days of the Wild West shows to now. Once the Hollywood Production Code and the Humane Society began to have an increased say in how animals were treated, I knew it was only a matter of time before uncaring, miserly film producers found a way around the rules. (Countries outside the U.S. didn't have those same laws.) What about movies being made today? Computer-generated imagery is a wonderful thing.

Twisting in Air was a valuable read for me because it filled in so many gaps in my knowledge of the movies and television shows I loved to watch in my youth (including the true meaning of animals' facial expressions). Stunt men like Chuck Roberson and horses like Cocaine worked hard to bring a safe kind of realism to Westerns. They really were teams that cared for one another, and I'm glad I now know more about them.

Twisting in Air: The Sensational Rise of a Hollywood Falling Horse by Carol Bradley

eISBN: 9781496240712

University of Nebraska-Bison Books © 2024

eBook, 224 pages

 

Non-Fiction

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Lost Mountain Pass by Larry D. Sweazy

 

First Lines: Kosoma, Indian Territory, May 1888. Three pair of boots burst through the gallows, toes aimed straight to the ground.

 

As the three Darby brothers hang from the gallows, the townspeople of Kosoma are relieved. Nothing and no one had been safe while those three were breathing. Now that the execution has taken place, U.S. Marshall Trusty Dawson's job is to take Judge Hadesworth back home. Just before the two men head out, the dead outlaws' sister, Amelia, persuades the judge to take her along with them. With her brothers' reputations there in town, there's no way she's going to get a fair shake from anyone. Trusty really wanted to leave her behind, sensing that she's trouble, but the judge overrules him.

 

And trouble is exactly what she turns out to be. Bedding down for the night at Lost Mountain Pass, the three are ambushed. The judge is killed, Trusty wounded, and Amelia vanishes, leading Trusty to believe that she led them straight into a trap.

 

To find Amelia, Trusty is going to have to put his faith in the fourth Darby brother, Michael, a man who's recently left the priesthood, but as their search for Michael's sister turns deadlier by the day, Trusty has good reason to distrust Michael as well.

 

~

 

I'm finding that I'm in the midst of another mini-reading binge of books set in the American West, and one of the best authors to read is Spur Award-winning Larry D. Sweazy. This first Trusty Dawson book, Lost Mountain Pass, takes us from 1860s St. Louis and Trusty's youth to 1880s Indian Territory where U.S. Marshall Sam Dawson has earned the nickname everyone calls him by being utterly trustworthy and dependable.

 

Sweazy's setting has you slapping off the trail dust, hearing the jingle of spurs, and knowing that your life may very well depend on how observant you are of people and your surroundings. There's more going on than a simple manhunt to put Trusty's life in danger, and as his backstory is woven into the story, the danger he's in becomes palpable. There are two very dangerous men after Dawson, and the shadowy Michael Darby with his reluctance to talk makes you wonder if there's a third. And as far as characters are concerned, Sweazy introduces a female Apache scout named Woman's Clothes that I definitely would love to see more of. 

 

With its fast pace, authentic setting, very real sense of danger, and amusing turns of phrase ("...took to wearing suits like a lizard dancing on ice" and "...face that looked like it had been used to rake gravel"), Lost Mountain Pass is an extremely satisfying read. In the next book in the series, Trusty will be heading to North Dakota, and I think I'll just mosey right along with him. 

Lost Mountain Pass by Larry D. Sweazy

eISBN: 9780786046782

Pinnacle Books © 2021

eBook, 320 pages

 

Historical Fiction/Western, #1 Trusty Dawson

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

The Dinosaur Hunter by Homer Hickam

Title: The Dinosaur Hunter
Author: Homer Hickam
ISBN: 9780312383787
Publisher: Thomas Dunne, 2010
Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: Western
Rating: C
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Old Bill Coulter used to say a quiet day in Fillmore County is a temptation to God and sure enough, come sundown after a day of blue skies and fair winds, distant pulses of lightning began to play along the horizon, heralding a big storm on its way.

Life on a Montana ranch is not for the faint-hearted, but some people seem to enjoy it. One of them happens to be retired homicide detective Mike Wire who left Hollywood to spend his days helping run the Square C and secretly love its owner, Jeanette Coulter.

Montana isn't just about ranching; however, the Square C lies in the midst of some of the richest areas of dinosaur fossils in the world. When a paleontologist and his assistants show their permits allowing them to search for fossils on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, Mike has a feeling that they're bringing trouble with them-- and he's right. Dinosaur bones can mean a fortune to whomever finds them first, and it's not long before the buzzards start circling.

I originally chose this book to read because it was supposedly a mystery, but the further I read, the less like a mystery it became. When the mystery arrived with the first murder about two-thirds of the way through the book, the Russian mob angle was a bit too far-fetched for me. Although the solution entailed a humorous section with a group of local survivalists that made me laugh, that, too, was a bit too much for me to swallow.

Mike Wire, the main character, also has his share of problems. (Must be that Hollywood influence still clogging a few of his brain cells....) His reasons for being a cowboy-- and a vegetarian one at that-- are good ones, but he has two annoying characteristics. One, he certainly does fall in love with a new woman quickly for a man who's been pining away for his boss lo, these many years. Two, this book is written from his point of view, his voice-- and Mike Wire is constantly telling us that he's done one thing when he's really told us that he wanted to do. He then has to backtrack and tell us what actually happened. The first couple of times he does this, it's a bit confusing. The next couple of times, it's amusing. From then on it's just plain annoying.

If I forget all about expecting this book to be a mystery and concentrate on its true strengths, I am left with a book that I still enjoyed quite a bit. Like the books of Peter Bowen, The Dinosaur Hunter is a paen to the wild and rugged landscape of Montana and the fiercely independent souls who live there. It also takes the reader on several digs for dinosaur bones. These are the truly fascinating passages in the book and will have anyone who's interested in the subject glued to the page.

If you're willing to ignore the main character's bad habits and forget about the mystery and concentrate on the dinosaurs, you're in for an enjoyable read.

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[A note about reading this book that has everything to do with its previous owner and nothing to do with the story. I received this book through Paperback Swap. One afternoon I realized that, as I was reading, I was scratching my itchy, runny nose. I happened to look down and see that the top of my navy blue swimsuit was literally covered with white cat hair. From the amount of cat hair that came out from between this book's pages, I'd swear there was a bald Persian winding around someone's ankles out there.

People complain about receiving books that smell of cigarette smoke and contain food stains, but for some reason, my receipt of a book filled with cat hair bothers me more than the previous two offenses!]

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

Title: The Sisters Brothers
Author: Patrick DeWitt
ISBN: 9780062041265
Publisher: Ecco, 2011
Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Western
Rating: A+
Source: Publisher

First Line: I was sitting outside the Commodore's mansion, waiting for my brother Charlie to come out with news of the job.

The year is 1851. The California Gold Rush is at a fever pitch, and the Commodore has his little corner of the universe in Oregon City, Oregon nailed down tight-- due in part to the efforts of his two hired guns, brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters.

The Commodore sent another of his employees down to San Francisco to keep an eye on someone who severely displeased him. Now it is up to Eli and Charlie to go down there and kill the man.

They pack a few provisions, saddle up their horses, and set out... only nothing on this trip seems to go smoothly. Every time Charlie gets near a saloon, he has to get drunk, and they're losing time because of his hangovers. Eli has nothing but trouble with his horse, and every single person they meet along the way seems to be more than a bit strange.

This picaresque novel is a pure delight. The tale is told by younger brother Eli, and as the pages turn, it's easy to begin to wonder how on earth he could be one of the infamous Sisters Brothers-- killers that most people cross the street to avoid. Eli is so honest and forthcoming about himself and what happens along the way that when I did find out that he, indeed, did come by his reputation honestly, I was in a bit of a shock.

It is easy to fall into a line of work and be good at it whether you like it or not, but Eli's had enough. He wants to turn over a new leaf, take the money he's saved up, set up shop, and become a storekeeper. Even though his brother Charlie thinks that idea is hilarious, I was rooting for Eli every step of the way.

DeWitt makes every paragraph of his tale look as easy as falling off the proverbial log. Every character comes to vivid life (even Eli's horse) and the action flows as smooth as can be. By book's end I honestly felt as though I'd experienced life during the Gold Rush in all its grimy, scary, funny, thought-provoking glory.

My only complaint is that I finished the book far too quickly, and I'm left feeling like Oliver Twist. Please, sir-- may I have some more?

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