The Predators (Signet) [Paperback]

F. M. Parker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though characterization is not his strong suit, Parker follows his many adventure novels of the American frontier ( The Assassins ) with this interesting account of the 1856-1860 Mormon prairie treks to Utah, during which almost 3000 converts hauled and pushed handcarts from the Middle West to Salt Lake City. Leaving grinding poverty in England, Caroline Shepherd heeds the call to travel to Zion, and, in St. Joe, Mo., joins a group of converts from Scandinavia for the 1000-mile journey across the Great Plains. En route, the caravan (mostly young females) is menaced by rapacious Pawnees, by murderous thugs dispatched by the father of a convert and by a score of armed Mormons ostensibly protecting their "property" but in reality preventing the women from leaving the caravan--especially because a posse of Texans is riding north seeking wives among the group. All converge in a lethal tangle near Scott's Bluff. Beautiful, headstrong Caroline, a troubled Texas rancher and the vicious leader of the armed band are the main characters in this accurately detailed but plainly written narrative.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Like Parker's earlier novels, this one deals with villainous people/events in U.S. history. The focal point of the story is the trek on foot of 200 Mormon women from Nebraska to Utah Territory in the spring of 1859. They were harnessed to heavily loaded handcarts, their only protection a few poorly armed men. Converging on them were predators--brutal, vicious river pirates intent on rape and murder, so-called protectors from Utah, not much better, Indians seeking yellow-haired wives, and four Texans desiring good wives. This is a novel of fast, violent action, lightened by the author's loving and colorful descriptions of the land and its wild inhabitants.
- Sister Avila, Acad. of Holy Angels, Minneapolis
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Signet (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451168895
• ISBN-13: 978-0451168894
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,327,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My name is Fearl M. Parker. I write under the name of F. M. Parker

I have written 20 novels. The rights for print version have reverted back to me and I have published then as ebooks on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple and some publishers in England.

My early years were lived in Ohio. At 16 I dropped out of school and went to work in a factory making door and windows. Becoming tried of eating sawdust, I started hitchhiking west. Ran out of money in Colorado and worked as a bellhop in Estes Park. After a few days and with a few coins jingling in my pocket, I caught a ride north to Montana where I herded sheep near Miles City. Tiring of that, I jumped onto my thumb and rode it west to Seattle, Washington. There I tasted the salt water and saw all the warships sailing off to war in the Pacific. This was 1945 during World War 11. Again I jumped upon my thumb, pointed it to the east, and rode it to Ohio. Where I talked my mother into signing me into the navy. Well, I wasn't yet 17 the minimum age, and so the navy put me up in a hotel for a day and them swore me in. I spent 4 years that first time, most of it aboard the USS Timbalier. I was called back to active duty for a year and a half during the Korean War in the early 1950's.

Earned a degree in geology, working the night shift for Chrysler Airtemp and going to college during the day. Hired on with a mining company prospecting for uranium in Utah. Next, I worked for an oil company drilling oil wells in Kansas. THEN my luck really struck and I took employment with the Bureau of Land Management, a bureau within the Department of the Interior. This was the perfect job for a fellow with an itchy foot. While working up through the ranks, I was in California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington D.C. and Oregon. I wrote my first book, Skinner, while in Oregon. In Oregon I was district manager. In that position, and with a large staff of specialist, oversaw the multiple use of five million acres of Public Domain land, a land area larger than some of our states. Following retirement from the Bureau, I became an environmental consultant. Today I live in Virginia and writes novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great history of Mormon migration, January 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Predators (Hardcover)

Thousands of young women from Europe came to America with Mormon misionaries and crossed the great plains and the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake City, their Zion. Good historical information.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, December 13, 2001

By 

"lhupa" (York, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Predators (Signet) (Paperback)

I am not a book person, and I haven't read an entire book in 5 years. I useally have a hard enough time reading magazine articles, but I could't put this book down. When I did finish the Predators, the story was so vivid in my mind, it was like I actually lived it. I am hooked on F.M. Parker and I am getting another one, and another one until I've read them all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Author, November 19, 2008

By 

Michael C. Bowling "mibowl" (greenup, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Predators (Mass Market Paperback)

Great author, I feel that he is the best western writer since Louis Lamour in the western series. He writes with stronger characters than Louis Lamour, but each of them have their weakness also. I personally feel the book the "Nighthawk" is one of his best books. Read it to see if you like his style as this most closely resembles Louis Lamour.