Ambush

White Indian #8

by Donald Clayton Porter

Ghonkaba, grandson of Renno, the white man raised as a Seneca, is furious when he learns that Beth Strong has turned down his marriage proposal for a British officer

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Fiction, Historical Romance

Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1983

About the author

The Colonization of America series was renamed to The White Indian Series with Book V, Renno.

1914-1988.
Noel B. Gerson
aka
Anne Marie Burgess, Samuel Edwards, Leon Phillips, Donald Clayton Porter, Dana Fuller Ross (with James Reasoner)

Reviews

[JG (Introverted Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambush continues Ghonkaba's story. He's still a young hothead who tries to get himself and his people into trouble. This book is set in the last years of the French and Indian War. Ghonkaba fights the French and their Native American allies, like his ancestors before him, and tries to grow as a person.

I just can't like Ghonkaba. Renno and Ja-gonh were too perfect, but Ghonkaba is a young, stubborn, short-sighted, know-it-all hothead who just won't listen. He does grow and get a little more likable throughout the book, but I still didn't really like him at the end. His love interest in this book, Toshabe, is fantastic. She's practical, beautiful, intelligent, wilderness-savvy and way too good for him. But I really enjoyed reading about her.

Somehow, the author wrote a couple of scenes where he gets the whole, subtle, jealous women silently competing each other thing just exactly perfect. After reading those, I had to sit back and wonder if he was growing as a writer or if he got a woman to help him write those scenes. They were completely out of the ordinary for him. He's pretty good with action, but he tends to leave emotions out of it. There was one other scene featuring Renno that was really well-written also. The author really might be growing as a storyteller.

The very last chapter came out of nowhere. I won't say what it is, but it had nothing to do with any of the rest of the book. I understand that you have to have some sort of continuing conflict for a series, but this really came out of left field. I will say that Ghonkaba gets to be a bit of a diplomat and I didn't buy that at all. Ja-gonh and No-da-vo know what a hothead he is. They would never have put him into that role.

For the first time, I really got the feeling that the author had done some research for this book. There were whole sections that had a very authentic ring to them. A quick Wiki search showed that at least the very bare facts were true. I've been assuming throughout the series that it was all made up. Now I'm wondering how much is based on actual history, however loosely.

This really was about a 3.5 star book for me. But because of Ghonkaba, I'm rounding down. If you're reading the series, keep going. I'm thinking that better things might be coming.

[Kevin welter · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Cherokee and Choctaw I then read Ambush and Seneca which preceded those. Initially not wanting to undertake such a large series my enjoyement of them transcended this and i started from the begining then when i reached Ambush again I read straight through to Seminole and on. A mostly historically accurate timeline in which the characters native and euros alike build the nation. It ties the title characters to the founding fathers as friends. Although it is ironic that Renno was a "white indian" most of the stories characters are "FBI" natives. Havent read the last 5 or more of the series though it would be interesting to see what light he protrays the "indian removals".

[Ryan Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a 2 month period I went through the first dozen of this series. I remember enjoying it in high school and they have collected dust on the shelf since. Every time I looked at them I thought I should read them again but not having an electronic version hampered my desire. I finally got back into the world of the Seneca tribe when the pilgrims first came to this country. Following multipal generations of this family is enjoyable. Held up pretty good.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOT GREAT BUT SOME GOOD CHARACTERS, I THINK I AM SPOILED BY ZANE GREY AND LOUIS L'AMOUR.

[David Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paper Back