Guns of the Palmetto Plains (Cracker Western) [Hardcover]

Rick Tonyan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Guns of the Palmetto Plains plunges the reader into the last agonizing years of the Civil War. Cattle from the Florida plains are needed to save a desperate South from starvation. But quicksand and snake-filled swamps, Yankee raiders, and vicious outlaws block the trails between Florida and the rest of the Confederacy. Men like Tree Hooker, tough as alligator hid and quick with gun, knife, or whip, take on the job of driving the herds. Then there are men like Union Major Dan Greenley who set the palmetto plains ablaze to stop the cattle drives. And there are women like Doris Brava, whose St. Augustine home is Greenley's haven from the hell of war. She is ready to die for a lover who should be her enemy. But, before anyone can put aside hatreds bred by years of conflict, everyone must reckon with the Brockton clan, renegades who are happy to sell their gunslinging to either the North or South and see the war as only a good excuse for murder -- or worse! -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 405 pages
• Publisher: Pineapple Press (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561640611
• ISBN-13: 978-1561640614
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,959,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining with a strong dose of adventure and history, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guns of the Palmetto Plains (Cracker Western) (Paperback)

Guns of the Palmetto Plains is an entertaining and well-written cowboy saga set in a location which readers would not expect. Little known in comparison to the beaches, cattle have been and still are a major part of Florida's history, with this particular story set in the latter portion of the Civil War. The characters are captivating as well as believable in the context of the harshness of their lifestyles. The descriptions of the swamp and forest topography of East Central Florida and its history are woven into the chain of events in a way that is especially interesting to those of us who live in the area. They provide a new perspective on nature of life in this part of the country while weaving a tale that is hard to put down. There are tough, strong good guys you will befriend and really bad bad guys you will love to hate. And their interaction is as complex and unpredictable as real life.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! And if you get a chance to meet the author, do so. I am pretty sure he really is Tree, the main character.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real Florida, January 15, 2003

By 

Evelyn D. Cruze "evwings" (Crescent City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guns of the Palmetto Plains (Cracker Western) (Paperback)

Rick Tonyan has done a superb job in blending fact and fiction. His description of the area is very accurate. One can visit many of the places mentioned - Volusia County, Palatka, St. Augustine - all have places mentioned in the book that are still very much in use.

It is the end of the Civil War. The cattle needs to be moved to help feed the Confederacy. The challenges of doing so makes for interesting reading. Some of the area described has changed very little. Granted, power poles and lines grow next to major paved highways. However, many roads are still sand. There are still swamps and forests. We who live in this area like to think of it as the "real" Florida. The union officers housed in Palatka and St. Augustine are met with a hostile hospitality. These events did happen and Mr. Tonyan has written them beautifully.

As another reviewer has said - try to meet the author. He has more stories to tell.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Florida I never knew about...., December 7, 2000

By 

Richard J. Bevan "rjbevan" (Fuquay-Varina, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guns of the Palmetto Plains (Cracker Western) (Hardcover)

This book really opened my eyes as to what the most Southern of our Confederate states was like during the War of Yankee Aggression (Civil War for those of you North of the Mason-Dixon line). Although not a big fiction reader, It is obvoius that this book is well researched and makes up for the fictional dialogue with more than enough historical content to keep a reader like myself turning pages. Ths book is an eye-opener about the deepest of the deep South. The story seems more like the badlands of Idaho than 1860's Florida. Definitely not the modern day "sunshine state"......in any way.