Customer Reviews

Bloodshed of Eagles

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BLOODSHED OF EAGLES by William W. Johnstone is an wonderful western set in 1875 Colorado, Territory.It is told from the perseceptive of Falcon MacCallister.As he is telling the story to an author,Zane Grey in 1927.The story retells the tragic events of the Battle of Little Big Horn and General Custer's demise. The story is about how Falcom connected with General Custer while in pursuit of two gatling guns stolen from the Colorado Home Guard. While this story seems to be based on Western history,it still has an interesting take on the Western fiction side. It is the story of survivial, Indians,murderous ambush,and two men standing strong,standing together and fighting offthe Sioux with only a few guns against many Sioux Indians.It is told threw the eyes of one survivial Falcon MacCallister,as he relives the event from fifty years ago.This book was received for the purpose of review from BookBlogs and details can be found at Pinnacle Books,an imprint of Kensington Books and My Book Addiction and More

I was disappointed that the editor or publisher responsible for printing this Johnstone book would resort to trying to write history instead of fiction in a traditional W. W. Johnstone novel.

The actual plot probably consumed fifty or a hundred pages; the rest concerned history of the Battle of the Little Big Horn and Custer's demise. Whether the history is factual or not is of no interest to me. It was completely irrelevant to the plot. If I wanted to read history, there are many such books I could read.

The Publisher's note claims this novel was "inspired by Mr. Johnstone's superb storytelling." I suspect it was inspired by a desire for recognition as a writer of historical Westerns instead of fictional Westerns.

I've read and enjoyed everything W. W. Johnstone ever wrote, including his Mason books, and never did he stoop to such blatant use of history to sustain a weak plot. Even his romance novel, "What The Heart Knows," was more fun to read than this novel, and I developed a distaste for the romance books by the time I was twelve.

I'm only glad that Uncle William W. Johnstone will never know the direction his novels are taking. Hopefully, it will stop with this one.

The one problem with this story is this in previous stories manly the Scream of Eagles Falcons Father Jamie Ian MacCallister was with Custer at the Little Bighorn he went with Reno's Command but in this Book from the time Falcon shows up at Ft. Lincoln and started out with Custer they mentioned all the scouts with Custer Except Jamie Ian MacCallister was nowhere to be found loved the story it was cool fun read for me because I love history but that just struck me wrong that his father who in a previous book was put into the Battle of the Little Bighorn was not even mention or incorporated into the story.

When I read the product description, I believed that I would read historical fiction account of Custer's compaign against the Souix. I did not expect a short love story or a mystery. I do not know whether the author was praising or condemning Custer. I doubt that author did much historical research. This casual attempt was not a good read. The author did not deliver.

Bloodshed of Eagles is a fictionalized account of the Battle at Little Big Horn, while using historical aspects throughout the pages, the reader is taking on a journey to the very slaughter of General Custer's last stand.

Falcon MacCallister is pressed upon by Zane Grey and Custer's wife, Libbie, to share the stories of his yesteryears and the time he spent in the company of General George Armstrong Custer. When Colorado joins the union, Falcon MacCallister is made Lt. Colonel of the Home Guard and before he can even settle into his position, a cache of Winchester repeater rifles and two Gatling guns go missing. Before they fall into enemy hands, namely, the Sioux, Falcon sets off on tracking down the missing weapons.

Authors William and J.A. Johnstone capture life in the old west, the personality of Custer and the rigors of army life with clarity and perception. The reader is left shaking their heads over the outcome of Custer's last battle and wonder if he could have been reasoned with, would the outcome have had a different result. The fictional character of Falcon adds to the overall believable integrity of the story, by showing us a up close and personal side of the battle that is left out of the history books. Included at the end of the story is a list of all the men who perished with Custer on that fateful day, giving an extra human edge to the story. As well, where applicable, the actual letters exchanged between Custer and his wife, Libbie are shared with the reader, including the last letter that he never received, in which Libbie shares with him her trepidations about the upcoming battle.

I liked the historical aspects of the story and had to remind myself they were one sided only because General Custers side of the story was being told. I liked how the authors made Custer as I have always imagined him to be, brash, arrogant, pig-headed and military minded, with just a touch of the human side appearing whenever he was in the presence of his wife. If you like historical western then you will enjoy Bloodshed of Eagles.