Cry of the Hawk [Hardcover]

Terry C. Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

Returning to his Missouri farm after years spent serving on the western frontier in a Yankee uniform, Jonah Hook finds it deserted, and he sets off for the western frontier again to find his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set primarily on the high plains during the 1860s, this novel has the epic sweep of the frontier built into it. Unfortunately, Johnston (the Sons of the Plains trilogy) relies too much on a facile and overfamiliar style. Add to this the overly graphic descriptions of violence, and readers will recognize a genre that seems especially popular these days: the sensational western. The novel opens in the year 1908, with a newspaper reporter Nate Deidecker seeking out Jonah Hook, an aged scout, Indian fighter and buffalo hunter. Deidecker has been writing up firsthand accounts of the Old West and intends to add Hook's to his series. Hook readily agrees, and the narrative moves from its frame to its main canvas. Alas, Hook's story is also conveyed in the third person, thus depriving the reader of the storytelling aspect which, supposedly, Deidecker is privileged to hear. The plot concerns Hook's search for his family--abducted by a marauding band of Mormons--after he serves a tour of duty as a "galvanized" Union soldier (a captured Confederate who joined the Union Army to serve on the frontier). As we follow Hook's bloody adventures, however, the kidnapping becomes almost submerged and is only partially, and all too quickly, resolved in the end. Perhaps Johnston is planning a sequel; certainly the unsatisfying conclusion seems to point in that direction.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

To get out of the Union prison at Rock Island, Illinois, Confederate Jonah Hook volunteers to go West and fight Indians as a "galvanized Yankee." When the Civil War and his service for the hated North end, he returns home to find that his family has been abducted by a roaming band of Mormon Danites. Jonah's turbulent search for them over the Western plains develops into a stunning narrative of violent life on the frontier. Veteran wilderness novelist Johnston ( Borderlords , Bantam, 1986) has struck a rare balance, portraying historical facts with a writer's imagination so that well-known events and historical figures seem real. Reminiscent of Alan Le May's The Searchers (1954), on which John Ford's movie is based, this open-ended book hints at subsequent volumes. This is highly recommended for most fiction collections.
- Robert Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 391 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553089366
• ISBN-13: 978-0553089363
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,837,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Titus Bass? Try a side trek with Shad Sweete, July 9, 2003

By 

G. C. Wells "Friend of Hem" (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cry of the Hawk: The Plainsmen (Scout) (Mass Market Paperback)

I finished the whole Titus Bass series from Carry the Wind to the author's last volume in the series, which he had finished soon before his death. With the death of Titus and the author (I think he secretly was the character in his books), I felt a loss and just had to read more. This is a great follow-up to Titus, following Shad, his longtime friend and fellow trapper, and a new member in the cast, a younger, ex-Confederate rebel, Jonah Hook. Jonah takes us around the plains on his journey to right what was wronged against his family in the years following the Civil War, where the frontier was ridden by men who make their own rules and often raised a hand against their own kind without remorse. You'll enjoy this book a lot and find the reading engrossing as all of Terry's books.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As a Lakota (Hunkpapa) I felt at home with the history, October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cry of the Hawk: The Plainsmen (Scout) (Mass Market Paperback)

The story was a page turner. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

This is the first book of his I have read and I intend to read all of his books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Story Within History, September 12, 2009

By 

fhk (Gig Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cry of the Hawk: The Plainsmen (Scout) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jonah Hook comes to the great plains to fight Indians as a "galvanized Yankee". His wife & sons were taken by an army of Danites. His search will take years. My only complaint is Johnston's overuse of similes. You get to learn the history of the Plains while reading a good story.