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Saga of the Sierras #7
Shooting Star
Andrew Jackson Sinnickson had crossed paths with Jack Powers long before Powers' name was known and feared as the genuine article: the first and worst of the California bad men. Total contrasts in character, in values, in approach to life, the two men locked horns from their original encounter in the southern presidio of Santa Barbara to the gold miners' hovels of Angel's Camp in the Sierras.
Sinnickson had been on hand when the Bear Flag rebellion had carried California from Mexican to American ownership. Now to the sleepy, sparsely populated western outposts came hordes of treasure seekers--honest miners, greenhorns, gamblers, sharps, and cutthroats. Gold-fever madness in a land without law burst open a door for exploitation, and Powers and his bandits soon established their upper hand.
When the price of steers jumps from $2 to $100 to feed the starving miners, Sinnickson gets involved in the first-ever California cattle drive. But it's three hundred treacherous miles that lead into the heart of Powers' strength.
Sinnickson had been on hand when the Bear Flag rebellion had carried California from Mexican to American ownership. Now to the sleepy, sparsely populated western outposts came hordes of treasure seekers--honest miners, greenhorns, gamblers, sharps, and cutthroats. Gold-fever madness in a land without law burst open a door for exploitation, and Powers and his bandits soon established their upper hand.
When the price of steers jumps from $2 to $100 to feed the starving miners, Sinnickson gets involved in the first-ever California cattle drive. But it's three hundred treacherous miles that lead into the heart of Powers' strength.
206 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Brock Thoene
150 books217 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 20, 2021
A nice finish to an exciting series. This novel gives us the full story of how the grandfather of characters featured in the Shiloh Legacy series had his life changed--which then led to the events that precipitate the other series.
I'm starting that series today.
I'm starting that series today.
April 27, 2023
The last book ended up being the best of the series but it was still pretty average as fiction goes. This was the first one to change up the format of following multiple storylines simultaneously and that helped it build a decent plot to follow.
April 27, 2021
What an exciting adventure based on an experience of the author's own ancestor!
February 1, 2022
I'm not sure what it was, but I was bored the entire time I read this. It took me weeks to finish just because I didn't care about what was happening.
May 5, 2022
It was an okay read - bit slow in places, not a lot of action - just a middle of the road western...
March 20, 2011
"Shooting Star" is a western set in 1848 in California at the start of the gold rush. Though this novel is the last book in the series, it's only lightly tied to the Will Reed novels in this series. It's essentially a stand-alone novel.
Historical details about everyday life in the gold camps and on a cattle drive were woven into the story. There were a couple of spots where the action stopped to give a history lesson, but they were brief. The authors tended to find everything that could go wrong and use every problem--using the very worst way things could go wrong--in the novel. So they pushed credulity at some points, but the story was exciting and suspenseful. The suspense was created primarily by physical danger.
The characters were interesting and varied. Will Reed's boys and Andrew were Christians. Andrew was called upon to give a funeral sermon. Later, a series of miracles occur to save their lives, and God was given the credit. So it was a Christian novel.
A word or short phrase of Spanish was often dropped into the writing. They usually weren't explained, but one could usually still follow what was going on. There was no bad language and no sex. The ending left some minor things unresolved.
If you're interested in this book because of the prologue in "A Thousand Shall Fall," you should know that only the shooting star fragment was explained. You do get a good idea of where the $20 gold coins came from, but they weren't specifically mentioned. However, the pocket watch and fob was never explained or mentioned.
Historical details about everyday life in the gold camps and on a cattle drive were woven into the story. There were a couple of spots where the action stopped to give a history lesson, but they were brief. The authors tended to find everything that could go wrong and use every problem--using the very worst way things could go wrong--in the novel. So they pushed credulity at some points, but the story was exciting and suspenseful. The suspense was created primarily by physical danger.
The characters were interesting and varied. Will Reed's boys and Andrew were Christians. Andrew was called upon to give a funeral sermon. Later, a series of miracles occur to save their lives, and God was given the credit. So it was a Christian novel.
A word or short phrase of Spanish was often dropped into the writing. They usually weren't explained, but one could usually still follow what was going on. There was no bad language and no sex. The ending left some minor things unresolved.
If you're interested in this book because of the prologue in "A Thousand Shall Fall," you should know that only the shooting star fragment was explained. You do get a good idea of where the $20 gold coins came from, but they weren't specifically mentioned. However, the pocket watch and fob was never explained or mentioned.
March 17, 2012
The Thoenes are among my favorite authors, and their multiple Zion novels are, for the most part, nothing short of masterpieces. Although Shooting Star doesn't quite reach that level of excellency, it is a fun (if short) and engaging read nonetheless. This is the first Thoene novel I've read that has a first-person narrator; that alone makes it stylistically different than their other works. That doesn't make it bad, though; fans of Bodie and Brock, Westerns, and/or Christian fiction should definitely give this a try.
November 4, 2015
Nice to read something different. I knew if it was by the Thoenes it was safe, and good.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews