A Distant Land

The Brannocks #4

by Matt Braun

"MATT BRAUN IS A MASTER STORYTELLER OF FRONTIER HISTORY."

—Elmer Kelton

THREE MEN CONQUERED THE FRONTIER
Three Brannock brothers once came West. Now, one of them survives, and Clint Brannock feels the weight of responsibility as he does his job as a U.S. deputy marshal. Hunting down an outlaw in the Indian territories, Clint meets up with two of his nephews—one destined to live or die by the gun, the other to live or die in his shadow. And in southern New Mexico, a beautiful sister-in-law, Elizabeth, presides over 100,000 rich acres—and dabbles in a dangerous game...

ONE MAN IS LEFT TO DEFEND IT...
A vigilante named Miguel Ortega is using terror to drive out Anglo settlers. A woman of her own proud heritage, Elizabeth has a grown son and daughter, each of whom stands to inherit an empire. But she has forged a forbidden bond with Ortega. With violence spiraling out of control, the government sends Clint to lay down the law. Soon, all the Brannocks must take a stand and risk their lives—for justice, each other, and the land that is now in their blood...







"BRAUN IS ONE OF THE BEST!"

—Don Coldsmith, author of the Spanish Bit series

Genres: Westerns

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Matt Braun is an author of fifty-six books, most of which are in the Western genre and has over 40 million copies in print.

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 4th and, I believe, final book in a loose series that details the life and times of the fictional Brannock family in the western US during the 1870's-1890's. Many websites, including Matt Braun's own site don't list these books as a series but since they all involve the Brannock family, that's the way I look at them.

Originally there were three Brannock brothers but by the time this novel begins, there is only one left alive. Many other second generation Brannocks join him in this 4th book and each of them have their individual back stories and motivations. While Mr Braun does a good job of interweaving their stories, he does fall back on a number of tired western clichéd situations and cardboard supporting characters here. The novel reads a bit like a soap opera and while there is an ending, it certainly leaves open the possibility of more novels to come, especially since many of the younger Brannocks still have unfinished story lines. However, I don't think that will ever happen since all four books were written in the mid to late 1980's.

I do appreciate the author's inclusion of historical personages as characters in his books. I think he gets the facts and dates correct even if sometimes manipulating their personalities to address the needs of the particular novel he is writing at the time. Case in point: the second book in this series, Windward West, includes the historical character of William Jackson Palmer, Civil War general, hero and railroad entrepreneur. He is also the founder of my home town of Colorado Springs, Colorado so I expect I know a lot more about him than the typical Matt Braun reader might. Braun presents him as a largely incompetent spoiled power-hungry man. It works for that novel and allows the protagonist, Virgil Brannock to have a proper evil dude to go up against in his own railroad venture...it's just not accurate according to all of the research I have done into the man myself. Knowing that going into a piece of historical fiction...well, I can live with it, but it does make me wonder about all of the other historical figures that are included in his novels.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

It turns out that one family - with some spunky women - solved ALL the problems of the settling of the west.