The Last Song of Strong Horse

by James Goertel

142 pages, Paperback

Published December 13, 2023

About the author

Born in North Dakota, James Goertel spent twenty years working in television for ABC, NBC, and ESPN, among others. "Carry Each His Burden" is his fiction debut and was published in 2011. His poetry collections "Each Year an Anthem" and "With No Need for a Name" debuted in 2012 followed by "Self Portrait" in 2013. Goertel's title story from "Carry Each His Burden" is one of only eleven stories to be chosen for inclusion in "Submitted for Your Approval" — Rod Serling Books' inaugural anthology published in April of 2015. "Oh Mercy" — a collection of faith-inspired poems — was published in late 2015. His writing has appeared in Short Story America, Ascent Aspirations, Manifold, LucidPlay, NexTV, The Quivering Pen, The Writer's Handful, Yareah Magazine, and The Next Best Book Club. His most recent collection of poetry "Manitou Ontario" was published in 2017. Goertel's short stories "Man Out of Time," "All of My Mother's Names" and "Approaching Silence" appear in Short Story America Anthology Vol. IV, V, & VI respectively. His debut novel "Dakota Damned" — published in late 2019 — is now available.

Reviews

[Joseph Gary]

Along with Dakota Damned, James Goertel hits another grand slam with his book, The Last Song of Strong Horse.

Set in the American west in the late 1800s, Goertel creates numerous, well-defined characters—from the hero-protagonist, Strong Horse, a Sioux warrior who refuses to be corralled on a government reservation, to wonderful scoundrels and villains of all persuasions.

From vivid chase scenes to outright, engaging mysticism, Strong Horse was a wonderful read.

This one’s a keeper.