Set in the old West, this novel of a family's fortunes and misfortunes following the Civil War follows two brothers and their sister from New York to Colorado aboard the ""orphan train."" 30,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo. Tour.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Matthews here confirms the storytelling gifts and knowledge of the bad, lawless Old West that he demonstrated in Heart of the Country . This is a spellbinding, tragicomic, rip-snorting and deeply moving novel about three sibling orphans who are wrenchingly separated in 1869 and are accidentally, joyfully--but briefly--reunited 16 years later in Colorado. The trio--Clay, Zoe and Drew Dugan--board a westward-bound "orphan train" in upstate New York and disembark to meet foster parents in three different states. Clay later kills the farmhands who murder his kind foster parents and becomes a sheriff, then a bounty hunter. Zoe, brutally raped by her foster father, a strict farmer, gives birth to Omie, born with a strange blue birthmark across her face. Omie's paranormal powers--she can foresee events, read minds, teleport objects and converse with spirits--will protect Zoe in her loveless marriage to Colorado mining magnate Leo Brannan, a politically ambitious monster who ditches Zoe for a gold-digging prostitute and who hires a transvestite assassin to deprive Zoe of her share of their fortune. Drew runs away from his foster father, a religious fanatic, is rescued by Apaches, and becomes a whorehouse attendant, then a bank robber. The siblings' reunion leads to a bizarre train robbery, part of Zoe's revenge on Leo. Despite too many improbable coincidences and recurring episodes of lurid melodrama, this gripping story provides compelling commentary on blind ambition, murder, sex, euthanasia, true grit, the vagaries of fate and the self-destructiveness at the heart of America.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A family epic set in the Wild West during the decades following the Civil War, with a telekinetic twist--the latest from Western specialist Matthews (One True Thing, 1989, etc.) is big, bloody, and breezy, but runs out of gas by the end. Three orphaned Dugans--two brothers and a sister--are sent from New York to the Midwest and adopted by different families, in spite of their wish to remain together. They vow to reunite quickly, but circumstances conspire against them. Clay, the eldest, finds a good home as the son of an educated farmer; but when the man is murdered by the brother of his hired hand, Clay becomes a killer himself in revenge, receiving a terrible wound through his cheeks in the process. Brother Drew fares little better, as his adopted father hears voices that tell him to take his family to the desert, where his mother dies of thirst and he barely escapes playing Isaac to his raving dad's Abraham. Meanwhile, sister Zoe is raped by her new father, gives birth to a girl with a vivid blue mark covering half her face, and is turned out to fend for herself and her child. And that's only the beginning. Clay turns into a humorless lawman and bounty hunter, Drew into a bank and train robber, and Zoe becomes the wife of the richest man in the West, having found herself a fantastic vein of gold high in the Colorado Rockies with the help of daughter Omie's unerring second sight. After much bloodshed and unhappiness, the three cross paths again, joining forces to deny Zoe's faithless, murdering husband his grandest conceit: a massive elk made entirely of her gold. Unfortunately, death isn't far behind them, and the Dugans are quickly eliminated after dumping the elk into a chasm. Redolent with frontier flavors, but the violence and menace, and even the supernatural effects, ultimately prove more gratuitous than gripping. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So compelling I couldn't put it down -completely engrossing.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Power in the Blood (Paperback)
I ordered this book through a book club some years ago, and it remains one of my all time favorites. It was thoroughly entertaining, and I couldn't guess what was going to happen next. It had lots of interesting & memorable characters, and imagery that really brought scenes to life. Matthews' use of color & cloud imagery to illustrate the psychic probing of others minds was especially captivating. I hope this book becomes available thru Amazon - it's what great storytelling is all about. A complete original
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magnificent novel of the Old West.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Power in the Blood (Hardcover)
This is a superb novel--original, compelling, fast-paced, and guaranteed to please. Mathews is the most underrated novelist on the planet. "Heart of the Country" is equally good, which is saying a lot! I have had three people read this novel and all rated it "incredibly good" or words to that effect. If Stephen King and Ed McBain got together to write the epic 1,000 page Western, it might be "Power in the Blood." Warning: don't read the inside dust jacket, as it tells way, way, way, too much of the story.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Epic Novel From The Master Of His Craft!!!,
This review is from: Power in the Blood (Paperback)
I have nothing but admiration for Greg Matthews and his story telling ability and this book is no exception. It concerns 2 brothers, Drew and Clay and their sister , Zoe who are separated on an "Orphan Train" back in the days of the Old West.The three of them are all determined to be reunited with one another but their hopes are dashed as Life "continually gets in the way" as a famous author once wrote.As they grow older Clay gets a job as a Town Sherrif, Drew becomes a Bounty Hunter and Zoe finds work in a Dance Hall.This is a novel about the enduring power of unrealized dreams(hence the title) and I consider it to be a Modern Day Classic. The author is an Australian who has recently returned back home and I say "Welcome home Greg!!!"
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