The Wind Comes Sweeping (Paperback)

~ Marcia Preston (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a laconic style that helps temper some of the more disturbing content, Preston's tale of a woman struggling to stay afloat on a contemporary Oklahoma ranch is too distancing to be truly affecting. Marik Youngblood lives alone on Killdeer Ridge Ranch, haunted by regrets. Her ranch is debt-ridden, but rather than ask her wealthy sister for relief, Marik leases part of her acreage to a power company for wind towers, angering her neighbor, Burt Gurdman. After Marik and Jace Rainwater, who's applying to become Killdeer's foreman, discover a dead bald eagle under one of the wind towers, they learn that Burt poisoned the bird in a failed attempt to prove the towers unsafe. Burt's hostility grows and Marik is forced to turn to Devon, a powerful man from her past. Preston (Trudy's Promise) ably frames Marik's story with the legend of Silk Mountain, the story of an 1890s frontier woman who committed suicide rather than face life in the harsh Oklahoma territory. But even the cast of multidimensional characters, especially Jace and his autistic son, cannot entirely shore up this novel. (Apr.)
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Product Description

Marik Youngblood left her father's Oklahoma ranch—and the child she gave up for adoption—intent on becoming an artist instead of a rancher. Her father's death brings her back to a failing cattle operation, a pile of debt and a haunting need to find the child she left behind. Leasing out the land for wind towers solves one problem but creates another—the hostility of her neighbors, Burt and Lena Gurdman.

Lena Gurdman may be poor and uneducated, with a husband who's quick to blame her for any perceived wrong, but she knows she and Marik have more in common than the property line between them. When the bones of an infant are uncovered on Killdeer Ridge Ranch, both Marik and Lena are left with questions about secrets they thought were buried long ago.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mira (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778326306
• ISBN-13: 978-0778326304
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fast-paced suspense, April 11, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Marik Youngblood fled Oklahoma after her family forced her to give up her baby for adoption. When her father died, Marik returns home saddled with a failed cattle ranch and a debt that in her mind rivals the Feds. She would prefer to get rid of the financial elephant but made a death bed promise to her dad. Desperate to bring in income, she leases part of the Killdeer Ridge Ranch to a firm building windmills in order to use wind turbines to create energy.

Marik's action angers Burt and Lena Gurdman, who own the neighboring ranch. However, Marik is unconcerned with the Gurdman ire as she has bills to pay until a dead bald eagle is found by a windmill; she believes Burt is trying to use the endangered species act to force her to shut down. However, the excavation is actually halted when the remains of an infant is dug up. Marik fears the unmarked grave contained her child whom she was told was living a happy life. Needing to know the truth Marik begins to investigate further upsetting the Gurdman couple especially an outraged Burt.

Although the pace starts slow, once Marik begins her amateur sleuthing, the story line accelerates into a fast-paced suspense with romance in the air. Marik is terrific as she tries to save her heritage, learn who the remains are, and praying it is not her daughter whom she hopes to one day meet. Marcia Preston writes an interesting Oklahoma character driven contemporary tale with an intriguing subplot re windmills on the plains that oilman T-Boone Pickens would appreciate.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid winner for Marcia Preston, April 19, 2009

By	Patti Dickinson (Santa Maria, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The main character in The Wind Comes Sweeping is mysterious and intriguing. Also memorable. So thoughtfully portrayed, the image of Marik Youngblood lingered in my thoughts long after I closed the book for the night--something I found difficult to do. Already curious about Marik's mysterious past, Preston skillfully draws us readers into the windswept Oklahoma landscape with almost lyrical prose--a Marcia Preston trademark I've come to expect, and I wasn't disappointed here. I found that as I became more intrigued with the characters and I was enjoying the scenery of the Killdeer Ridge Ranch, she ramped up the excitement and mystery. Vintage Marcia Preston--she grabs the reader and doesn't let go--a story you can't forget yet at the same time don't want to put down. A solid winner. Loved this one and look forward to Marcia Preston's next book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of her best, July 22, 2009

By	Patricia Kay "author and avid reader" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I first discovered Marcia Preston with THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, and since then I've bought and read all her books. THE WIND COMES SWEEPING is probably my favorite and I competely disagree with the featured review saying the story is told too distantly and that the protagonist is not affecting. Marik Youngblood is complicated. She's not the kind of person who shows her emotions, therefore she's not easily understood. She was profoundly affected by the decision she made to give her child up for adoption and when the story begins, eight years after the birth of her daughter took place, she is still questioning whether she did the right thing. In fact, she's questioning everything in her life. Marik is lonely. She's reached that point in life where she wonders what her life would have been like had she taken a different path. Preston is a marvelously gifted writer, and in her capable hands Marik's story is told against the desolate beauty of an Oklahoma ranch where wind turbines play an important role. There's not a single false note, even though Preston juggles several different threads that include romance, murder, and suspense. I really loved this book and intend to recommend it to my book club. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.