Shepherd's Son (Mysterious Ways Series #3) [Paperback]

Terry W. Burns (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2006

After her husband's death, Audrey can't think of any other way for her son, Jay, to keep their ranch functioning, but to do something that's unthinkable. When Audrey and Jay bring sheep into cattle country, they encounter opposition of every kind—opposition that's made all the more challenging when Jay falls for the daughter of a cattleman.

Shepherd's Son is a story of greed, family loyalty, and the quest for power; it's a Wild West adventure that will remind you that the Lord works in Mysterious ways.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Terry is a 5th generation Irish storyteller. He is the author of the series that begins with "Mysterious Ways" and continues with "Brothers Keeper" and "Shepherd's Son," giving him twenty-two books in print. "Mysterious Ways" was a nominee for the American Christian Fiction Writers book of the year, nominated for the Christy Award and was just published in Russian.

He has published over 200 articles and short stories, some of which have been included in a short story collections published by the Darkstormy writers and Coastal Villages Press. He also is a contributor to "Heartwarming Christmas Stories" from Cook/River Oak that will be available in November, 2006.

In addition to his fiction titles, Terry has published four nonfiction books and a small book of cowboy poetry entitled "Cowboys Don't Read Poetry."

His available works as well as a daily blog can be found at www.terryburns.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (July 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589190335
• ISBN-13: 978-1589190337
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,853,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Terry is an agent with Hartline Literary http://www.hartlineliterary.com as well as writing inspirational fiction. As a writer he has over 40 books in print including 10 novels. He has a new series from Port Yonder Press entitled "The Sagebrush Collection" of his collected short works and the first released March 2010 entitled "On the Road Home." A Young Adult entitled Beyond the Smoke won the Will Rogers Medallion, a delightful historical fiction entitled "Saint's Roost recently released, and a new book "A Writer's Survival Guide to Publication" also from Port Yonder Press was developed out of the month long course he held for ACFW. He is working on getting all his titles available on Kindle including the popular Mysterious Ways Series. A popular speaker at workshops across the country, a bookstore of his available works as well as a regular blog can be found at www.terryburns.net. He's a member of the Association of Author's Representatives (AAR).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing story of the west, November 16, 2006

By 

Barbara Warren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shepherd's Son (Mysterious Ways Series #3) (Paperback)

Jay Mendelson's father died and the only way Jay and his mother can keep their ranch is to switch from raising cattle to herding sheep. Jay isn't happy with the change at first, but to his surprise he finds he doesn't mind the wooly creatures at all. But this is cattle country and the local ranchers don't want sheep for neighbors. Led by Blake Johnson, who practically runs the town and surrounding country, the ranchers are determined to get rid of the hated sheep. They don't have anything against Jay, but if he gets in the way,it's his tough luck.

Blake sends Rafe Silbee, a man who served with him in the war, and Rafe's hired guns to attack Jay. They even shoot his dog, which was a mistake. The ranchers, who don't mind if a few sheep get killed but it's going too far to shoot a man's dog. Besides, Jay and his mother are well liked in town. Instead of being frightened by the attack, Jay is even more determined to hang on to what is his.

Carrie Sue, Blake's daughter loves Jay Mendelson and she isn't afraid of her father or Rafe Silbee and his hired killers. The war heats up and Jay is outnumbered as Rafe calls in reinforcements, but with God's help and the love of a good woman, he doesn't stand alone.

I grew up reading Luke Short, Max Brand, Zane Grey, and B.M. Bower. Terry Burns is right at home with those great western writers. You can't miss with this one.

3.0 out of 5 stars The third and final book in the series..., June 1, 2009

By 

Valerie "ValsVicinity" (Wyoming, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shepherd's Son (Mysterious Ways Series #3) (Paperback)

The storyline: When Audrey's husband died, she and her son, Jay, did the only thing they could to keep the ranch afloat... they changed from cattle and started raising sheep. Living right in the heart of cattle country, this change creates quite a stir in their community. The ranch owners and cowboys around them don't think sheep belong in cattle country, they say that sheep and cattle can't graze together. And some people will stop at nothing to remove the sheep from the area...

My opinion: I liked the characters of the "good guys", Jay, Audrey, and Carrie Sue. But it seemed they really weren't in the story enough...so much of the book was about the bad guys and their plotting against Jay and the sheep. I just wasn't able to sympathize with the bad guys at all, so that part seemed a little long. There were also a couple people that had such a complete change of heart about certain situations, that it seemed a bit unbelievable. These are just some of my thoughts though... The sheep/cattle war was kind of enlightening when I found out that this type of thing actually used to be an issue. I'd never heard of the sheep/cattle thing before, so it was a bit of a history lesson in that way. :)

This book concludes the Mysterious Ways series. Overall I would say this is a good western series, it might be a bit more suited for men, but I think women would enjoy it as well. There is a bit of romance in each book, just enough for the women yet not too much to scare the men away! :) And it's the same with the gun fights, enough for men but not too much to chase the women off. All three books have plots that aren't your typical Christian-western fiction, so they are certainly unique in that aspect.

5.0 out of 5 stars A very appropriate title, October 29, 2008

By 

Donald J. Parker "Donald James Parker - autho... (Crossville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shepherd's Son (Mysterious Ways Series #3) (Paperback)

One of the most chronicled phenomenon of the American west is the saga of range wars between cattlemen and sheep herders. I have a suspicion there is some exaggeration on how widespread and serious the problem was, but it certainly is great material for a novel - especially a Christian one. The role of Jesus as the master shepherd (the word pastor means shepherd) allows the parable to be woven seamlessly into the fabric of an American western novel. This story is action packed with events happening at almost dizzying speed sometimes and contains lots of plotting and intrigue among the various bad guys. Terry is a master story teller. This book is another winner, though I enjoyed the first two books in the series a little more.