Customer Reviews

Three Notches of Destiny

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THREE NOTCHES OF DESTINY by Annie Champa is a great read. It holds your interest from the prologue. I highly recommend it for all history buffs and all that like a good tale well told. This historical fiction novel presents factual events in the history of Florida and Southern Alabama. Since this period of history is viewed through the eyes of Champa's Spanish priest and Creek Indians, the reader gains a new perspective.

Annie Champa has created characters that are strong, bold, and unforgettable. Padre (the Spanish priest), and Genesis (half Spanish and half Creek), Princess Blue Heron, and Willow (full-blooded Creeks), and Chad (the runaway slave) have been brought to life with Champa's pen. The fast-paced novel races from one adventure to another, each filled with danger, purpose, or a range of emotions. At the same time, the beauty and spirituality of the forest play into the story. The characters experience the joys and perils of living so close to nature.

The author's ability to paint word pictures of this beautiful setting (the flora, fauna, and the landscapes which have been altered only slightly with time) and describe the moods stired by these pictures, was superb and right on the mark. I was born in Southern Alabama and my father's family was from the Pensacola, Florida, area, so I am familiar with the scenes described. I can only say, "Well done! Brava!"

I believe this is an important book, one that contributes to the understanding of different cultures. Perhaps THREE NOTCHES OF DESTINY will become a classic, and the names of Padre and Genesis will be well known. If asked, "Who are the most famous hunchbacks in literature?" The majority of people would answer, "Quasimodo and Padre." Or, if asked, "Who are the most famous Indian friends in literature?" They would say, "Tonto and Genesis."

As for me, I know that the Three Notch Road and the earliest travelers on it, as depicted in Champa's novel, will live in my memory. But the book also stirs the reader's imagination and causes one to think of the real travelers and what their individual stories may have been. This is the mark of a truly great novel and one for which the world is richer.

A great deal of historical fiction has been written about the Northeast and West, but Annie Champa takes readers down the less well-known road to the deep South in "Three Notches of Destiny."
Champa's reasearch into the history of Alabama and Florida forms the basis for a compelling story about the area.
The story begins with a friendship that develops between a Dominican priest and the captain of a ship on which he is emigrating to America. Captain Zamora tells Padre that he has a half-Indian (Creek) child named Genesis Zamora in Florida and is bringing him the gift of a special horse. Eventually Padre and Genesis become friends and when Andrew Jackson is about to invade Pensacola, they flee to the Indian Ridge Trail (later renamed Three Notch Road) to escape.
They encounter many hardships before they are captured by an Indian tribe. While they both live with their captors their differences become defined and they lead different lives. Genesis eventually joins the tribe, marries and has children. Padre becomes friendly with Princess Blue Heron who sees him through an almost fatal illness. Together they save a runaway slave, whose plight eventually affects her later actions.
Lives change with time but history also changes lives. Genesis dies in a battle so does not face the plight of Creek Indians who are driven from their homes. Blue Heron has married a white man and stays, but her attempt to help runaway slaves ends in tragedy.
In the end Blue Heron realizes that to continue living she must face the changing times and make a new life for herself and her children.
Champa has researched the area thoroughly and a careful reader will discover many little known events that make this book so interesting. It brings to life an almost forgotten past and may well send readers to history books to learn more.

From the beautiful front cover by artist Lois Durda to the back cover, THREE NOTCHES OF DESTINY by Annie Champa is a great work of historical fiction. Her characters are vivid and life-like. They will be remembered. Padre and Genesis, fellow travelers on the Three Notch Road in the early nineteenth century, are an unlikely pair. Padre Morales is a Spanish priest in Pensacola, Florida, at the Catholic Mission. Genesis Zamora, half Spanish and half Creek Indian, is a young man with ambition. Their friendship and common goal are sealed by wearing duplicate crucifixes carved by Padre from seashells found on Pensacola Beach. Their destinies are linked as they interact with Creek Indians, Spaniards, slaves, General Andrew Jackson and his troops, traders, and others in this captivating tale of America's expansion into Southern Alabama and Florida.
The author divides the story of her characters' lives into three periods - three notches - to echo the three notches blazed on the trees along the Three Notch Road. Champa's skills are exhibited in her descriptive writing and the organization of the plot, reflecting a continuity and convergence of story lines. In the late twentieth century, a Creek college student, Daniel Zamora, discovers in Southern Alabama a crucifix, which matches one handed down in his family in Oklahoma. He investigates and learns of adventure-filled stories about his ancestor, Genesis Zamora, and how the crucifixes originated and were dispersed to different areas. Through these heirlooms, later generations of Genesis Zamora were brought together. Destiny proves her influence, and makes us all aware of the forces at work in our everyday existence. Two thumbs up!!

I am always looking for good books written by new authors. When I find one I like, I recommend it to other readers.
I highly recommend THREE NOTCHES OF DESTINY by Annie Champa to all readers who like adventure, a well-developed plot and characters so real they come to life as you read. The historical detail shows very careful research and is skillfully woven into the story. The Southern Alabama and West Florida locale is the setting for the adventures of Padre, Spanish priest who left his homeland to come to the Pensacola, Florida, Catholic Mission, and Genesis, a Spanish-Creek Indian half-breed. The Three Notch Road, just an Indian trail at the time,ran between Pensacola and the Montezuma Trading Post in Alabama. Padre and Genesis's escape from General Andrew Jackson's advance on Pensacola was made on this trail. Other characters, Princess Blue Heron, Willow, Chad, and others, all encounter Padre and Genesis in a tale of their bold lives in this early period of American history.

To me, the difference between a great novel and a mediocre one is how it affects the reader. Can the author stir the reader's imagination? Can the author bring scenes to life? Can the author effect the reader's perspective? Will the novel live in his memory? The answer to all these questions concerning THREE NOTCHES OF DESTINY is a resounding "Yes!"

Annie Champa's skills as a writer enable her readers to visualize the setting and identify with the characters, thereby putting the reader right in the middle of the story. This book gives the reader the opportunity to be there and see things through the eyes of the characters. A reader cannot live through the story without gaining new perspective. This ranks it right up there with the best. I hope you enjoy your trip down the Three Notch Road.

THREE NOTCHES is an enchanting story with a well researched backdrop, from the political forces of the 1800's to the Catholic and Indian lore. The Padre is a vivid, quirky man, and his sidekick, Genesis an engaging half-breed just entering manhood; a Holden Caulfield of another era. I'd recommend this book to enthusiasts of general fiction, history, 'western' fiction (though this is set in Southeast, the Indian/Padre theme resonates with Westerns), or suspense stories. I hope Champa writes several more books.