SONS OF FIRE (A Double D Western) [Hardcover]

Max McCoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 1992 | Series: A Double D Western

While Frank sides with the Union, Patrick heads off to the mountains, and Zachary rides with William Quantrill, the charismatic Confederate raider.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One brother wore blue. One brother wore gray. One brother just ran away. That could serve as the synopsis of this very readable but unoriginal new novel by McCoy ( The Sixth Rider ), which uses the by now hackneyed idea of divided loyalties within families during the U.S. Civil War. In 1860, Kansas is violent and about to explode. Abolitionist Jayhawks raid farms of slaveholders in Missouri to emancipate slaves; pro-slavery gangs retaliate against those who help free the blacks. The Fenn family becomes involved in the era's murky politics and shifting allegiances when they help an injured escaped slave elude his pursuers, though they act out of humanitarian reasons rather than from any conviction against the peculiar institution. When the war begins, Frank joins the Union army and is commissioned, Zachary signs on with the infamous Confederate raider William Quantrill, and Patrick heads for the hills. Their personal struggles and enduring family ties form the emotional core of the novel, but its main interest lies in its portrait of Quantrill, a morose and mercurial figure whose motivations remain obscured in history's shadows. Other historical personages share the stage as well, as Bill Anderson, James Henry Lane and the Younger brothers play roles in this otherwise fictional telling of events in "Bloody Kansas."
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 179 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (December 12, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385420307
• ISBN-13: 978-0385420303
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,080,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Max McCoy is an award-winning novelist and journalist. He is best known for his westerns (which have been described as "western noir") and his original Indiana Jones adventures.

He won the Spur award in 2008 from the Western Writers of America for his novel, "Hellfire Canyon." It's the story of a 13-year-old boy and his mother who walk across Missouri during the Civil War and become part of the gang led by Alf Bolin, the notorious Ozark serial killer. "Hellfire Canyon" was also named a Kansas 2008 Notable Book.

McCoy is the author of sixteen other books, including four original Indiana Jones adventures for LucasFilm and the novelization of Steven Spielberg's epic miniseries, "Into the West."

His fiction debut, "The Sixth Rider," about the 1892 raid on Coffeyville's banks by the Dalton Gang, was published by Doubleday and won the Spur/Medicine Pipe Award for Best First Novel by the Western Writers of America.

USA Today has described his writing as "powerful." In addition to westerns and historical fiction, McCoy also writes contemporary adventures. Publishers Weekly called his novel, "The Moon Pool," an "intelligent thriller... tightly drawn characters, a vile villain and a satisfying, thought-provoking conclusion make this a compelling read."

McCoy grew up in Baxter Springs and most of his books are set in Kansas or Missouri. He began his career in journalism at the Pittsburg Morning Sun and writing for pulp magazines such as True Detective and Front-Page Detective. Most recently, he was the investigative writer for The Joplin Globe. He has won first-place awards in investigative journalism for his stories on serial killers and hate groups.

His latest book is "Canyon Diablo," a sequel to "Hellfire Canyon." McCoy's an assistant professor of journalism at Emporia State University. His newest book, "Damnation Road, will be released in September 2010.