Beneath a Hunter's Moon: A Western Story

by Michael Zimmer

A intriguing tale of métis buffalo hunts, a long-lost daughter, and a macabre secret.Big John McTavish has been hunting and trading among the métis buffalo hunters of the Red River Valley for more than thirty years. He’s a trusted member of the half-breed nation, and a leader of the mixed-bloods’ twice-yearly buffalo hunts. However, when he returns to the settlements in the fall of 1832 with a mountain man he’s rescued from a Chippewa war party, he has no way of knowing the chain of events the outsider is about to unleash on the unsuspecting hunters, or the kind of destruction that will follow them onto the buffalo ranges that border the lonely Missouri River.Before the hunters return to their homes along the river, Big John will learn the macabre secret that has brought the trapper from the far reaches of the Rocky Mountains. He will discover a daughter he thought he’d lost forever, and relive the horror that took her away. And the métis will come to realize that if they are to survive as an independent nation, they must forever free themselves of the influence not only of the powerful Hudson Bay Company, but also of the man they have viewed as their friend for more than a quarter of a century.Beneath a Hunter’s Moon is a novel of honor and treason, love and betrayal, but mostly it is a story about a proud and wonderful people-the métis of the Red River Valley.Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns-books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians-are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

391 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 12, 2016

About the author

Michael Zimmer is the author of twenty novels. His work has been praised by Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, the Historical Novel Society, and others. City of Rocks (Five Star, 2012) was chosen by Booklist as one of the top ten Western novels of 2012. The Poacher’s Daughter (Five Star, 2014) received a starred Booklist review, and was selected winner of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s prestigious Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel (2015); both were finalists for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, and his short story, The Medicine Robe, won the Spur Award in 2019. Among his Westerns is the seven-volume American Legends Collection series.

In addition to Westerns, Zimmer also writes Mysteries, including the Two-Bit Street Mystery series featuring 1940s private eye Lafayette “Lafe” Doyle.

Zimmer resides in Utah with his wife Vanessa and their two dogs. His website is: www.michael-zimmer.com

Reviews

[Joe Stack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a well-written story about the west during the time period when the Red River Valley was occupied by the Sioux, Chippewas, the Metis, and buffalo. The story has action and mystery while anchored to traditions of the Metis, a mixed-race culture. Learning about the Metis was interesting. I've read other stories by this author and found this story slower paced than his other books.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pike is hunting for the two men that killed his friend. He trails them to the area of the Metis buffalo hunters. John McTavish is a man of influence among the Metis and may have started an Indian war saving Pike's life. Set in the 1830s close to the Canadian border.

[Sandy Carmichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story set in the west but more along the lines of mountain men, trappers and Native Am.(s) In the time before the west was really settled much.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep thinking I should like a good western novel, but this was not the one.