What do you think?
Rate this book
Bloody Merchants' War
Poor farmers and ranchers gripped in bondage by an iron triangle of crooked merchants, an oppressive military regime, and a corrupt Territorial government. Lincoln County New Mexico was not a good place for a fugitive wanting only to blend peacefully, without attention into his surroundings. Instead, Jethro Spring is ambushed by events beyond his control; events that spiral into a conflict without clear distinctions between good and evil, right or wrong, friend and enemy. Eventually the young fugitive chooses, but did he make the right choice? With Billy the Kid? For John Chisum? It was indeed a Bloody Merchants' War.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Roland Cheek
27 books11 followersThere are, I suppose, febrile savants who reject any notion that a person can acquire the writing art outside those hallowed halls of academia. Yet storytellers captured audiences for millenniums before Oxford or Harvard were more than forest enclaves where wild turnips sprout.
There's dissent, of course, holding the cloistered academic life to be poor training grounds for the kinds of riveting stories audiences wish to hear or read. My particular PhD came from God's own university of wild places and wilder things. My Culture might best be described as the Campfire kind, backed up against the inky black of star-filled nights, regaling saucer-eyed guests with tales of wilderness adventure, while horses stomped at picket lines and coyotes howled at a rising moon.
My doctoral thesis came during three decades of narratives about those wild places and wilder things; wonders saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt; crafted for Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield. My column was syndicated over two decades to 17 newspapers, and I hosted a coast-to-coast radio show with 210,000 listeners airing on 75 stations across America. Then I turned my attention to books: a baker's dozen novels and wildlife and adventure nonfiction titles, all self-published to great success, all flavored with real-life experiences.
What's my point? That one can have adventure AND learn to write very well indeed (despite academic disdain for anyone outside their comfortable inner circle); well enough indeed to tell the conventional publishing world to go to hell--that I'll publish my own stuff.
More successfully.
And at greater profit
There's dissent, of course, holding the cloistered academic life to be poor training grounds for the kinds of riveting stories audiences wish to hear or read. My particular PhD came from God's own university of wild places and wilder things. My Culture might best be described as the Campfire kind, backed up against the inky black of star-filled nights, regaling saucer-eyed guests with tales of wilderness adventure, while horses stomped at picket lines and coyotes howled at a rising moon.
My doctoral thesis came during three decades of narratives about those wild places and wilder things; wonders saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt; crafted for Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield. My column was syndicated over two decades to 17 newspapers, and I hosted a coast-to-coast radio show with 210,000 listeners airing on 75 stations across America. Then I turned my attention to books: a baker's dozen novels and wildlife and adventure nonfiction titles, all self-published to great success, all flavored with real-life experiences.
What's my point? That one can have adventure AND learn to write very well indeed (despite academic disdain for anyone outside their comfortable inner circle); well enough indeed to tell the conventional publishing world to go to hell--that I'll publish my own stuff.
More successfully.
And at greater profit
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 14, 2016
Jacob Neese
Book review #2
Jethro Spring, a fugitive wanted for killing a U.S. Army Major responsible for brutally murdering his parents. Set in Lincoln County / Southeastern New Mexico. Poor farmers and ranchers gripped in bondage by an iron triangle of crooked merchants, an oppressive military, and a corrupt Territorial government. Jethro is ambushed by events that spiral the unwilling young fugitive into a conflict without clear distinctions between good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.
The things I liked about this book was when Jethro Springs made the good decisions instead of the bad. Jethro has to make a choice of choosing the bad or choosing the good. He chooses the good and battles to go away from all of the poor choices, gets away from the fugitives and gets his life back on track to where it should be.
The things I didn't like about this book was when he made all the poor choices that affected his life when he was with the fugitives.He made poor judgements and picked evil over good, right over wrong, and enemies over freinds. This changed Jethro Spring and also pushed some of the greatest people away from him.
I think that this book would be great for anyone who likes old Western books that relates back to the old Western time. This book also has Billy the Kid in it one of the greatest fugitives of all times. It can teach lessons and has plenty of action and creates a suspense.
Book review #2
Jethro Spring, a fugitive wanted for killing a U.S. Army Major responsible for brutally murdering his parents. Set in Lincoln County / Southeastern New Mexico. Poor farmers and ranchers gripped in bondage by an iron triangle of crooked merchants, an oppressive military, and a corrupt Territorial government. Jethro is ambushed by events that spiral the unwilling young fugitive into a conflict without clear distinctions between good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.
The things I liked about this book was when Jethro Springs made the good decisions instead of the bad. Jethro has to make a choice of choosing the bad or choosing the good. He chooses the good and battles to go away from all of the poor choices, gets away from the fugitives and gets his life back on track to where it should be.
The things I didn't like about this book was when he made all the poor choices that affected his life when he was with the fugitives.He made poor judgements and picked evil over good, right over wrong, and enemies over freinds. This changed Jethro Spring and also pushed some of the greatest people away from him.
I think that this book would be great for anyone who likes old Western books that relates back to the old Western time. This book also has Billy the Kid in it one of the greatest fugitives of all times. It can teach lessons and has plenty of action and creates a suspense.
February 20, 2013
Book #2 in the series about Jethro Spring, a fugitive wanted for killing a U.S. Army Major responsible for brutally murdering his parents. Set in Lincoln County / Southeastern New Mexico. Poor farmers and ranchers gipped in bondage by an iron triangle of crooked merchants, an oppressive military, and a corrupt Territorial government.
Jethro is ambushed by events that spiral the unwilling young fugitive into a conflict without clear distinctions between good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy. Eventually he chooses sides, but was it the right choice? What of Billy the Kid? John Chisum? Susan McSween?
Is there, in fact, a Santa Fe Ring?
Roland Cheek
Jethro is ambushed by events that spiral the unwilling young fugitive into a conflict without clear distinctions between good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy. Eventually he chooses sides, but was it the right choice? What of Billy the Kid? John Chisum? Susan McSween?
Is there, in fact, a Santa Fe Ring?
Roland Cheek
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews