Kill the Indian: A Killstraight Story

Killstraight #4

by Johnny D. Boggs

Young Comanches Daniel Killstraight and Charles Flint have been called to Texas. Captain Pratt will be giving a talk on the transformations brought about by the Carlisle Industrial School, of which Killstraight and Flint are shining examples. They’ll be joining a Comanche delegation led by Quanah Parker, who will be negotiating grasslands leases... until blown-out gas lamps in Quanah Parker’s room kill a Comanche chief and put Parker in a coma.

But the question of who tried to murder Quanah Parker is not an easy one. He had many enemies among both native and white men. Daniel attempts to unravel the mystery while fulfilling his original purpose in Texas--to support Captain Pratt’s talk. But he doesn’t know who to trust, especially as the list of suspects begins to dwindle.

Will Killstraight figure out who is after Quanah Parker? Can the land disputes of the People be resolved? And will justice be served by the anti-Indian townspeople? Find out in Johnny D. Boggs’s novel Kill the Indian.

Genres: Westerns

232 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2012

About the author

Johnny D. Boggs is a Spur- and Wrangler Award-winning author of the American West and frontier. Born in 1962, Boggs grew up on a farm near Timmonsville, South Carolina, around the old stamping grounds of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion (chronicled in his frontier novel The Despoilers). He knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa Smith; son, Jack Smith Boggs; and basset hound, June.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent Western, part of a series about Comanche tribal policeman Daniel Killstraight, a man caught between the two worlds of the whites and the Native Americans. I may write a longer review later.

[Joe Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written, fast paced, page turning murder mystery. Part of a series, this story would be satisfying on its own, but if the reader reads this period mystery in as part of the series the reader will find the main character, Daniel Killstraight, getting more secure in his role as a detective. The author kept me in suspense throughout. While I had suspected who the murderer was well before the person was revealed, I was not sure thinking my suspect was a red herring.

The story, as with the previous books in this series, is filled with Comanche culture and lore. This is very satisfying read indeed.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read a Western, but this was more murder-mystery than Western, interestingly. Basing it's title on the infamous "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" motto of many Indian schools, Killstraight finds himself in the middle of a land/grazing dispute when two of the key players are found...one dead, and one nearly dead. Whodunnit?

[mama · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun interesting story incorporating some real events. I did like the main characters struggle with himself and who we wanted to be. Fun, quick read!