Sanctuary

by Gary D. Svee

Gary Svee's Spur Award-winning novel of a town caught at the edge of hell -- and the lone man who came to set things right. There was much to fear in Sanctuary, Montana. Small, poor, and brutal, it was a place people fought to leave, not one they sought out. Most men tasted the bitter bile of the place and moved on -- until one day, one man came to stay. He arrived by train -- a tall, slim man in a dark suit and a preacher's collar. But this preacher was no angel of mercy. He drank whiskey, gambled, and faced down hard men in the street, wielding his belt like a whip of righteousness. And his dark eyes seemed to seek the secrets in the townspeople's souls -- their hidden desires, their vilest thoughts and most shameful acts. He would soon know everything, for he was the dark form of both unholy vengeance and blessed salvation. He was Mordecai.... And God help those who would stand against him.

Genres: Westerns

260 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1990

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Sanctuary” is a heavy-handed Christian allegory set in late the 1800’s in small Montana town named Sanctuary. By heavy-handed I mean the Christian influence is prominent throughout the story and I found the hero, a preacher named Mordecai, a bit beyond belief in his omnipotence and his actions. As a Christian, I believe in the kindness Mordecai portrays to the poor Cree Indians. I just didn’t find the story to be a realistic Western in the sense of Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry, etc.

I rated the story three stars because I did enjoy the short book. I did find a few glaring research issues and one literary device that I found a bit overused. The research issues dealt with terms and medical techniques that weren’t known at the time the story took place. For example, the men of Sanctuary gossiped about a strong, opinionated female teacher of being a “transvestite”, which is a term that wasn’t in use until the 1920’s. Another example was the diagnosis of appendicitis and using the “McBurney incision” to conduct an appendectomy. This diagnosis and procedure wasn’t developed until the 1890’s, and it would not be possible for a field surgeon to have learned about this in the Montana Indian Wars. The literary device I found annoying was the constant use of characters recalling an earlier time in their life when some critical event happened. I wouldn’t mind the author using this approach once or twice in the story, but it seemed like every major character had some kind of flashback to an earlier event that had some bearing on the story.

Overall, I thought the novel moved along at a good pace, it was interesting, and it had a nice legal plot twist. I am a bit a purist about Westerns and I didn’t think the Christian allegory worked well in this setting. I felt the same way about the mixture of cowboys and aliens and time travel in other popular mash-ups.

DISCLOSURE
Open Road Integrated Media sent me a complementary review copy. I don't have a relationship with the publisher, and the free copy didn't influence my review

[Jonathan Ammon]

Though well-written, fast-paced, and brief this allegory does not manage to escape the thin characters, broad strokes, and heavy-handedness that often come with the convention. I wanted to love this, and I want to grade it on a curve because of its ambition, but I just can't get over its simplistic allegory. I can see where it could have transcended that. Perhaps if it was twice the length and twice as nuanced. The author knew what issues and themes he wanted to explore and had envisaged a realistic Christian allegory in the genre, but even though I like Christian allegories I found myself flinching from this one. That said I am surprised but not discouraged that this won the spur award, though I will be looking carefully around to find more deserving westerns from 1990.

[patricia sendelbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book mirrors our society in the not too distant future. It's scary to think we could become a culture of crowd dominance.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

disapointing

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting well written western.

[Robin Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was much younger, I went through a phase where I read a lot of Westerns, particularly Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey. But in the last few years the only westerns I've read have been mostly the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross, and Lonesome Dove. I loved Lonesome Dove, and after that wonderful experience I began collecting westerns when I came across them at library sales and such. So when I received an email from Open Road Media, inviting me to review SANCTUARY via NetGalley, I took the plunge and joined NetGalley (something I'd been avoiding doing, for the simple reason that I prefer an actual book in my hands versus a digital book).

A mysterious preacher arrives in the little town of Sanctuary, and one by one begins intervening in the lives of various residents, helping them, and helping them help themselves. A young Indian boy living in poverty with his grandmother at the dump. A former doctor who now cleans a bar for a living and spends the rest of his time drunk. The preacher wades in and stirs things up. Despite all the action that occurs, the pace is slow and meandering. Sparse. The author has a nice turn of phrase and at times his descriptions are quite evocative. A couple of my favorites:

“His eyes were hard and cold as January ice, and that image was strengthened by the white hair that sprayed from beneath the old man's hat like wisps of snow drifting ahead of Montana winds.”

“When he spoke, his voice seemed broken, the words poking through his trepidation like bits of ice floating down a river.”

There are lots of characters, but no character is delved into too deeply. They mostly live poor, hardscrabble lives, and occasionally we are given a flashback about a particular character. But we don't get to know any of them very well or get very deeply into their heads. For me, that was a downside, as I love good character development. If characters are really well written and drawn out, the plot can be non-existent and I'm still happy.

Maybe westerns just aren't my style after all. Or maybe it was the preacher's similarity to Jesus. I'm not a religious person at all, despite the fact that I read and enjoy tons of Love Inspired books. The correlations of the story to that of Jesus may be better appreciated by readers more familiar with and invested in religion than I am. Unfortunately my attention sometimes wavered and the book just didn't speak to me.

Review originally posted on my blog.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a prototypical western, this novel was good enough to earn an award in 1990. I had never read anything by the author Gary Svee, but was offered this one in return for a review. One of the tropes common in westerns is the "stranger coming to town."

Here, we have an itinerant preacher named Mordecai who demonstrates gospel behaviors of "healing" the town drunk former-doctor, the advocating for the Amerindians living on the town outskirts, "adopting" one of those children as his guide, explainer of town dynamics, and his attempt at modeling true Christian values to the corrupt town Baptist minister. Sure, the allegorical messaging is overt, but Grey, Brand, and Lamour were often just as preachy.

For me the writing was effective, although too short. 50 pages might have served this book better, if it would have demonstrated more of Mordecai's work with the narrator, some more "kill the cat" from our villain, and some work on the blossoming love story. Overall, I was happy to read a western not penned by the big three western writers previously mentioned.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a reissue of this book and I am glad it is. I found this to be a very enjoyable and quick read. I don’t think I would have come across this western any other way. It starts off with a man arriving at the train station in Sanctuary Montana, and he is unlike most men who wear a preacher’s collar. He drinks whiskey with the men in the saloon, plays cards and unlike the men in town he stands up for the outcasts of the town. They are really the ones that make the story, it is like he knows about them before talking to them, but yet the same prejudices still exist to this day. Looking down on the poor, making fun or being a bully, hiring someone from a different place then not agreeing with their teaching and making them out to be the devil. The story lines in this book are still prevalent as ever. As the men watched a grown man bully a young Indian boy, it is no different than a child being bullied at school and adults not doing anything about it. This is not a long book it can be read fairly quickly but for me it was a powerful book and excellent writing. I am glad that open road media released this book. I got this book from net galley.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this strangely compelling and unusual Western, a mysterious stranger walks into a remote and rough town one day and immediately begins intervening in the lives of the inhabitants, righting wrongs and bringing justice to a lawless place. He’s a wandering preacher on a mission and is fearless in facing up to the perpetrators of evil, regardless of what the consequences to himself might be.
It’s impossible to avoid the Christian connotations of Mordecai and his quest, and the book is more of a Christian parable than anything else, but nevertheless it does work as a novel on the whole, and although not a conventional Western, does have much of the same atmosphere (I was reminded of that classic Western Shane). If perhaps a little heavy-handed at times, the depiction of some of the characters is both moving and convincing, especially that of the native Americans. A short book, and one well worth reading.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most powerful novels I have read in a dog's age. A preacher arrives in a little Montana town in the late 1800s and almost immediately he begins to help people - the old drunk doctor who now just sweeps out the bar, for example, and many others, especially the Indians, rejected by the whites, starving, and living by the dump.

Yet this preacher is something approaching Jesus; he brings love, help for those who need it and at the end, faces a similar irate and crazy mob Jesus faced in His last days.

You won't forget this one, will relish the poetry and grace of style, and the words that all of us need to remember each day of our lives: love those around us; they, too, are he children of God.

[Pete]

miscategorized as a straight western -- it's an unusual little book, has an interesting spin on some classic christian themes, a really intense ending, and some really poetic writing. i don't think a single gunshot gets fired in the book, and the preacher who is the main character definitely never holds a rifle, despite being pictured on the front cover holding a rifle.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters, good conflict. I'd love to read a prequel to this.

[Marsha Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting tale of great power.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific western a wonderful addition to the genre A town. evil to the core&one man marches in to save it.a gun blazing read.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shows blindness in small village of Sanctuary. Mordecai has a clerical collar, disrupts traditional religious, school house, aboriginal poverty.
Typo: 5.19 fanner_ farmer