Downriver: A Barnaby Skye Novel (Skye's West) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Richard S. Wheeler (Author) "Gloom hung over the rendezvous on the Popo Agie River..." (more)
Key Phrases: boiler deck, mountain wife, mountain rifle, Lame Deer, Pierre Chouteau, Red Gill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Wheeler's westerns just keep getting better and better. This is the 12th novel in the writer's Spur Award-winning Barnaby Skye series, chronicling the adventures of mountain man Skye and his Crow Indian wife, Victoria. Last year's novel, Going Home, had the hard-drinking, earthy, resourceful couple on the run from trouble in Mexican California. Six years later, in 1838, Skye and Victoria are on their way from the Rocky Mountains to St. Louis so Skye can compete for a wilderness job as a post trader with the powerful and ruthless American Fur Company. The journey will cover 1,500 miles by land and river and is fraught with peril and treachery. This time, however, Skye's enemies are not Indian warriors seeking a stand-up fight, but white men who have secrets, wealth and reputations to protect, and who prefer to lie, cheat and stab a foe in the back rather than look him in the eye. That is not the mountain justice Skye is used to, and he will have to learn new skills to survive in the civilized white man's business world. Complicating the trip is a Cheyenne Indian woman determined to find her white husband in St. Louis, not realizing he has abandoned her to marry a suitable white woman. A slick, manipulative Creole trader; a brutal, ham-fisted steamboat captain; and a likable whiskey smuggler add high drama to the trip. This is the best of the Skye novels so far, an adventure mystery full of suspense, action, historical color and careful portrayals of men and women facing hard choices amid uncertainty and danger. Wheeler is a master of character and plot, and this novel showcases his talents at their peak.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-This installment in the series finds Barnaby Skye and his Crow wife, Victoria, leaving their familiar Rocky Mountain home in the early 1800s to travel 1500 miles to Saint Louis so he can apply for a job as a post trader with the American Fur Company. During their trip downriver, the Skyes encounter deceitful and ambitious men who are bent on not only ruining Skye's chances at getting the position but on taking his life as well. A treacherous paddleboat captain promises them passage and then abandons the couple and their Cheyenne friend at the first opportunity, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their back. They are rescued by a pair of likable traders who offer to take them the rest of the way on their barge. Wheeler always does a masterful job of weaving Indian lore and culture into these stories. It is also refreshing to see America through the eyes of the protagonist, a transplanted British subject who deserted from the British Navy. The exciting and perilous journey occupies most of the book, saving their arrival in St. Louis for the last few chapters. Teens who enjoy fiction about the Old West will enjoy this story and see how two people from diverse cultures facing hardships and dangers are able to make a life for themselves in a rapidly changing world.
Patricia White-Williams, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081256586X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812565867
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #863,339 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)