In 1857, 120 settlers bound for California were murdered by a group of Mormons who feared that the wagon train was sent out to destroy them. The story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is part of the lore of the West and an event that many would like to see forgotten. But it hasn't been: in this explosive first novel, John Gates introduces Brigham Bybee, an attorney assigned to assist in the defense of a young man accused of murder in Kanab, Utah. To save himself and his client, Bybee must ask questions, the answers to which were supposed to have been buried with the victims of the Massacre. Discovering the truth may save his client, but the cost to the Mormon community will be catastrophic. Brigham's day is a heart-stopping thriller based on historical truths. Wonderfully crafted, carefully plotted, and rich in the color and history of the area, it is a novel that won't be ignored...or forgotten.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Brig Bybee is a Utah lawyer with a history of challenging the powers- that-be in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That is not how a brilliant criminal attorney gets ahead in Kanab, where this well-written suspense novel is set. The background of the standard plot (personally troubled, professionally played-out lawyer boxed in by a judge who makes him take second chair to another lawyer in defending a young man charged with murder) gets a nifty historical context as it relates to a century-old massacre in a stronghold of Brigham Young and his devotees.
Bybee's co-counsel is a hotheaded young lawyer who believes there's a connection between trumped-up charges against their client and the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, for which the Mormon Church hierarchy may have framed another innocent man. Granted a second chance at happiness, Bybee, who lost his first wife and daughter in the unpopular pursuit of justice last time out, is falling in love with the granddaughter of the man his client supposedly murdered. He's also trying to rein in his unpredictable colleague, who has reason to believe that the church has framed Owen Parks, just the way they framed John Lee over a century ago. This time it's through a posse known as the Daughters of Zion, who would do anything to protect the reputation of the church's founder and the powerful Mormon hierarchy that guards its secrets just as forcefully today as it did then. Brig is an interesting protagonist, and the history of Utah's settlement is a fascinating story. Author John Gates, a Utah native, tells it well enough to make the reader hope for a second chance, and a second outing, for his hero. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
The Mormon settlement of Kanab, Utah, provides a colorful setting for this somewhat formulaic thriller in which bloody secrets of Mormon history may prove to explain a present-day murder. Attorney Brigham Bybee, a divorced, recovering alcoholic whose high-profile career was nearly destroyed when he filed suit against a high Mormon church official, is now reduced to traveling to Kanab to sit second chair on the defense of a poor, illiterate man accused of murder. To make matters worse, the lead attorney, reckless boor Ronnie Watters, is building his case around wild rumors that the victim was actually killed by a secret Mormon police force to prevent him from publicizing an old document that might embarrass the church. And the victim's granddaughter, beautiful Zolene Swapp, knows more than she is tellingAeven as she and Bybee stumble into an inopportune love affair. Back in 1857 in this region, 120 settlers were slaughtered in what became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Learning the truth about that eventAa truth few want to confrontAmay be the key to Bybee's case. Though stock characters and creaky plotting undermine the narrative, Gates keeps his story moving briskly and garnishes his tale with well-chosen local details and enough Mormon history and lore to awaken the reader's interest in the alternate culture that thrives in Utah. Agent, Philip Spitzer. QPB alternate. (July) FYI: Gates was featured in PW's "First Fiction" feature (Jan. 10).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A historical mystery well worth reading,
This review is from: Brigham's Day (Hardcover)
Attorney Brigham Bybee once walked with the state's elite. In those days, he would never set foot in a place like Kanab, Utah. However, that was then and this is now and Brigham is divorced and an alcoholic with no future. Thus, Brigham agrees to assist the defense team as they defend drifter Owen Parks accused of killing a former local bishop Douglas Farnsworth.Though no one expects much of him in what is apparently an airtight case (the accused took a picture of the scene) Brigham begins to investigate the murder. To his shock, he begins to unravel a totally different scenario than that painted by the police and prosecutor. Instead, Brigham begins to believe that his client is a victim of a conspiracy linked to a mass murder over a century ago that if ever revealed would shake the Mormon Church. BRIGHAM'S DAY is an exciting legal thriller that provides the audience insight into Mormon history and beliefs. The story line is fast-paced and Brigham is a cynical antihero. Several subplots such as an unnecessary romantic interlude detour the main tale, but John Gates' novel is worth reading because of its fine focus on the Mormon lifestyle inside a well-designed legal thriller. Harriet Klausner
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Latter Day Saints and Sinners,
By patrick brower (Grover, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brigham's Day (Hardcover)
After reading Brigham's Day, I am certain of two things. John Gates is a fine writer and a great story teller. The characters are well drawn, and Gates uses them to great effect in drawing the reader into the shadowed secrets of the Morman experience. I hope to meet Brigham Bybee again,and soon.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in Utah,
This review is from: Brigham's Day (Hardcover)
BRIGHAM'S DAY is the debut novel by John Gates. Brigham Bybee, an attorney on the verge of being stricken from the bar, is assigned to the case of a poor young man who is accused of murder, in Kanab, Utah. The book is very dark, telling tales of not-so-savory events in the days of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, the founders of The Church of the Latter Day Saints, and the modern Church, all taking place in the ethereal beauty of southern Utah. This is not a true historical novel, but rather a modern day murder mystery with historical undertones, and well worth reading
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