Dark Voyage of the Mittie Stephens: A Western Story [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Johnny D. Boggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2005

A Spur Award-winning Author

The side-wheel steamboat Mittie Stephens was lost on a dark night in February 1869 on Caddo Lake near the Texas-Louisiana border. Of the 107 people on board, sixty-one perished. Unbeknownst to almost all of them, the Mittie Stephens had been selected by the army to secretly transport a payroll in gold. In pursuit of its cargo, a group of ex-Confederates worked out an elaborate strategy to seize the boat.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bobby Randow is a former Confederate officer with a problem: his short-term memory is shot, thanks to the effects of injuries suffered in a gun battle with a gang of thugs planning to rob a payroll. While straining to recall his immediate past, he meets Laura Kelly, a onetime New Orleans belle on the run after she burned down her home rather than cede it to Yankee carpetbaggers. The pair meets aboard the Mittie Stephens, a refurbished Civil War troop transport vessel-- Bobby as a paying passenger, Laura as a stowaway. Others among the hundreds of passengers on board are the potential thieves from Bobby's past, law-enforcement officers looking for Laura, a cagey ship's captain, and a family of former slaves seeking a new start in the West. Remarkably, the hoary selective-amnesia gimmick works fine here, thanks to Boggs' careful character development. Randow and Laura both resonate with passion, intelligence, and decency in this delightful entertainment, which combines elements of the traditional western with an Orient Express-style whodunit and a Titanic-like romance. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

" ... exciting, suspense-filled ...." -- George Glenn, The Shootist, July/August 2004

" ... supplies suspense, a love story, betrayal, loyalty, bravery, and deceit wrapped up in a tight plot ...." -- Doris L. Meredith, Roundup Magazine, August 2004

"... crackling historical novel of the Red River's greatest steamboat tragedy." -- Bill Garwood, True West Magazine, Jan/Feb 2005

"combines elements of the traditional western with an Orient Express-style whodunit and a Titanic-like romance." -- Wes Lukowsky, Booklist --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786278056
• ISBN-13: 978-0786278053
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,634,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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