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Hope Valley War
Filled with shoot-outs, romance, and colorful characters, this rollicking yarn of the wild Utah territory in the 1850s is written in the tradition of the best of Louis L'Amour and Zanc Grey. Experience the days when the tide of civilization clashed with the lawless frontier.and vigilante justice masked terrorism and revenge.
209 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
64 people want to read
About the author
Brock Thoene
153 books219 followersBODIE AND BROCK THOENE (pronounced Tay-nee) have written over 45 works of historical fiction. These best sellers have sold more than 10 million copies and won eight ECPA Gold Medallion Awards.
Bodie began her writing career as a teen journalist for her local newspaper. Eventually her byline appeared in prestigious periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report, The American West, and The Saturday Evening Post. She also worked for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions (she’s best known as author of The Fall Guy) and ABC Circle Films as a writer and researcher. John Wayne described her as “a writer with talent that captures the people and the times!” She has degrees in journalism and communications.
Bodie and Brock have four grown children—Rachel, Jake, Luke, and Ellie—and five grandchildren. Their sons, Jake and Luke, are carrying on the Thoene family talent as the next generation of writers, and Luke produces the Thoene audiobooks.
Bodie and Brock divide their time between London and Nevada.
Bodie began her writing career as a teen journalist for her local newspaper. Eventually her byline appeared in prestigious periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report, The American West, and The Saturday Evening Post. She also worked for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions (she’s best known as author of The Fall Guy) and ABC Circle Films as a writer and researcher. John Wayne described her as “a writer with talent that captures the people and the times!” She has degrees in journalism and communications.
Bodie and Brock have four grown children—Rachel, Jake, Luke, and Ellie—and five grandchildren. Their sons, Jake and Luke, are carrying on the Thoene family talent as the next generation of writers, and Luke produces the Thoene audiobooks.
Bodie and Brock divide their time between London and Nevada.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 27, 2022
A pretty short book, but fast-paced and includes all the elements: suspense, dry humor, romance, and ... I guess I'm just repeating the book blurb.
Setting: Utah territory, specifically Carson County and the town of Genoa in the prologue, 1858. Plenty of towns and landmarks are named, such as Placerville (now in California, but I'm not sure about historically) and Genoa (now in Nevada). Plenty of details help establish the historical setting, such as specific firearms, the threat of Comanches, modes of travel (i.e., horses and their kin), nicknames for everyone, and men who need a great deal of acumen in order to stay alive. The setting is established so seamlessly that I very easily trust the historical accuracy. Nothing extravagant, just a simple story with simple trimmings.
Characters: With the exception of our hero John Thornton, the characters don't have extremely in-depth personalities. Thornton's perspective is easily gleaned, but because of the first-person writing, does not take too many words. However, just because the innermost thoughts and feelings of each character aren't displayed doesn't men the characters aren't distinctive. On the contrary! Kit is the most useless man in the west; the antagonists have their individual strengths; Maria is a woman in this dangerous place (and that's all that needs to be said); George is a nice protective fellow; the townspeople have their own motivations; Si Denton is a great sheriff whose justice-driven character doesn't go overboard (and neither does his deputy); and Snowshoe Thompson is also great (and a real person! I was ecstatic).
Plot: Wow, there's a lot of killing. Let's leave it at that. Again, it's in keeping with the historical setting, alluding to the default acts of justice they had to use in the west. In true Thoene style, the plot goes from bad situation to worse situation, to there-is-no-hope situation. And, in true Thoene style, things come out all right in the end, and we're not even sure how we got there.
Faith Content: I was surprised at how seamlessly--and historically realistic--the characters' Christian faith is woven into the plot and influences their actions. It's plain, it's simple, it doesn't always drive Thornton's actions (he's not perfect, of course), and yet it's quite powerful.
Because of the book's general writing tone, there is nothing that captured my heart so as to earn five stars, but the story is all-around well-written and has plenty of excellent aspects.
Setting: Utah territory, specifically Carson County and the town of Genoa in the prologue, 1858. Plenty of towns and landmarks are named, such as Placerville (now in California, but I'm not sure about historically) and Genoa (now in Nevada). Plenty of details help establish the historical setting, such as specific firearms, the threat of Comanches, modes of travel (i.e., horses and their kin), nicknames for everyone, and men who need a great deal of acumen in order to stay alive. The setting is established so seamlessly that I very easily trust the historical accuracy. Nothing extravagant, just a simple story with simple trimmings.
Characters: With the exception of our hero John Thornton, the characters don't have extremely in-depth personalities. Thornton's perspective is easily gleaned, but because of the first-person writing, does not take too many words. However, just because the innermost thoughts and feelings of each character aren't displayed doesn't men the characters aren't distinctive. On the contrary! Kit is the most useless man in the west; the antagonists have their individual strengths; Maria is a woman in this dangerous place (and that's all that needs to be said); George is a nice protective fellow; the townspeople have their own motivations; Si Denton is a great sheriff whose justice-driven character doesn't go overboard (and neither does his deputy); and Snowshoe Thompson is also great (and a real person! I was ecstatic).
Plot: Wow, there's a lot of killing. Let's leave it at that. Again, it's in keeping with the historical setting, alluding to the default acts of justice they had to use in the west. In true Thoene style, the plot goes from bad situation to worse situation, to there-is-no-hope situation. And, in true Thoene style, things come out all right in the end, and we're not even sure how we got there.
Faith Content: I was surprised at how seamlessly--and historically realistic--the characters' Christian faith is woven into the plot and influences their actions. It's plain, it's simple, it doesn't always drive Thornton's actions (he's not perfect, of course), and yet it's quite powerful.
Because of the book's general writing tone, there is nothing that captured my heart so as to earn five stars, but the story is all-around well-written and has plenty of excellent aspects.
July 23, 2020
Reasons for nixing stars:
-No suspense; the reader knows everything by the end of the prologue, while John stumbles around the rest of the book trying to figure out what happened (I remember loving the prologues to most of the Theones’ books when I was younger; they were tied into the plot in a less blatant way that didn’t detract from the “present-day” characters’ lives. This one...was not so subtle.)
-A lot of the characters came off as flat; it seems the only ones that weren’t were John, Lawrence, and the historical figures
-The first-person POV was a bit...odd. It kept on in solid past-tense for a few chapters. When there were scenes showing what the Bad Guys were up to, it went into omniscient...but then when there were things happening with the Good Guys that John couldn’t have possibly known about at the time, it stays in first-person as if he’s relating a tale that’s already been finished. It went, methinks, a long ways towards killing what little suspense there was, despite the inclusion of phrases like, “If only I had known ahead of time, I would have [insert different choice].”
White I liked/loved:
-The attention to detail of Genoa and the surrounding area
-Historical cameos
-The slang
-Simple plot, no surprises (which I was in the mood for)
-Lots of shoot-outs
Probably not one I’ll be rereading soon, but it was a nice rainy day read.
-No suspense; the reader knows everything by the end of the prologue, while John stumbles around the rest of the book trying to figure out what happened (I remember loving the prologues to most of the Theones’ books when I was younger; they were tied into the plot in a less blatant way that didn’t detract from the “present-day” characters’ lives. This one...was not so subtle.)
-A lot of the characters came off as flat; it seems the only ones that weren’t were John, Lawrence, and the historical figures
-The first-person POV was a bit...odd. It kept on in solid past-tense for a few chapters. When there were scenes showing what the Bad Guys were up to, it went into omniscient...but then when there were things happening with the Good Guys that John couldn’t have possibly known about at the time, it stays in first-person as if he’s relating a tale that’s already been finished. It went, methinks, a long ways towards killing what little suspense there was, despite the inclusion of phrases like, “If only I had known ahead of time, I would have [insert different choice].”
White I liked/loved:
-The attention to detail of Genoa and the surrounding area
-Historical cameos
-The slang
-Simple plot, no surprises (which I was in the mood for)
-Lots of shoot-outs
Probably not one I’ll be rereading soon, but it was a nice rainy day read.
July 12, 2021
Lots of adventures stuffed into this book!
December 6, 2021
It seems like it tried to incorporate too much unnecessary drama
July 9, 2023
A well-researched historical Western crime novel that marks the Thoene legacy in literature. I'm happy that the good guys won this one, but Lucky wasn't so lucky was he?
January 4, 2024
Good solid western. It kept me interested, it was not predictable.
July 25, 2017
I chose this book to take with me on my vacation out west since it’s a cowboy story that take place in California around the time of the Gold Rush in the 1850’s.
I enjoyed the main characters and his qualities: brave, humble, honorable, and wise. I got a kick out of all the cowboy western slang used in the book and I Googled some terms I was unfamiliar with phrases like “tangle-footed” which means drunk. I found the dialogue and action to be excited but got pretty distracted when the author was just describing the settings and in between the dialogue. I found myself pretty distracted while trying to read on vacation because I was around my family. I didn’t finish my book until I got home because I spent most time with my family.
I enjoyed the main characters and his qualities: brave, humble, honorable, and wise. I got a kick out of all the cowboy western slang used in the book and I Googled some terms I was unfamiliar with phrases like “tangle-footed” which means drunk. I found the dialogue and action to be excited but got pretty distracted when the author was just describing the settings and in between the dialogue. I found myself pretty distracted while trying to read on vacation because I was around my family. I didn’t finish my book until I got home because I spent most time with my family.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews