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Shadow Mountain: A Western Mystery
This eBook edition of "Shadow Mountain" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices.
Wiley Homan has a business plan for Virginia, a waitress and the daughter of the same man whom his own father had robbed once. Naturally, Homan's return to the Death Valley sounds alarm bells all over the decrepit mining town and Virginia cannot believe that he is up to any good. To add to the mystery, there is also a slight possibility that Virginia's father did not die as she was led to believe. But what does Homan wants from her? Where is her father?
Dane Coolidge was a naturalist, author, photographer and a poet. He is now best remembered for his Westerns and his non-fiction books about the West, many of which were illustrated with his own photographs.
Wiley Homan has a business plan for Virginia, a waitress and the daughter of the same man whom his own father had robbed once. Naturally, Homan's return to the Death Valley sounds alarm bells all over the decrepit mining town and Virginia cannot believe that he is up to any good. To add to the mystery, there is also a slight possibility that Virginia's father did not die as she was led to believe. But what does Homan wants from her? Where is her father?
Dane Coolidge was a naturalist, author, photographer and a poet. He is now best remembered for his Westerns and his non-fiction books about the West, many of which were illustrated with his own photographs.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2017
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26 people want to read
About the author
Dane Coolidge
164 booksDane Coolidge was born in Natick, Massachusetts, on March 24, 1873. He was brought up in Riverside, California, and received his higher education at Stanford and Harvard Universities. From 1895 to 1900 he was a field collector of mammals, birds and reptiles in Nevada, Arizona and Southern California for a number of institutions, including Stanford University, the British Museum, U. S. National Zoological Park, and the U. S. National Museum in Italy and France. On July 30, 1906, he married Nary Roberts, and the couple eventually made their home in Berkeley, California. In 1910, his first novel, Hidden Water, was published, and this was followed by a long succession of novels and some non-fiction, with California and Southwest locales. He and his wife collaborated on two books, The Navajo Indians (1930) and The Last of the Seris (1939). In addition, Coolidge contributed short stories and illustrated articles to several magazines, including Youth's Companion, Sunset, Redbook, Harper's and Country Life in America. Mr. Coolidge died in 1940; Mrs. Coolidge, in 1945.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 8, 2017
I was looking forward to this book. I really enjoyed Coolidge's The Desert Trail, and when it came time to pick an author for my March Literary Birthday Challenge, I decided Shadow Mountain would be a nice choice, mainly because years ago when I lived in El Paso, Texas, I worked at a store on Shadow Mountain Drive. Well, that is as good a reason as any, right?
But whether it was Carnaval, or the latest in-law visit, or April the giraffe (when is she going to have that baby?!) or the book itself, I could never get interested in the story. I struggled along to the halfway point, but at yet another chapter full of maths I gave up. I simply never had that 'ooh, gotta go see what is happening' feeling that usually keeps me turning pages.
The story revolves around a mine near Death Valley. The hero Wiley arrives in Keno, which used to be a booming mining town, but now is nearly a ghost town, with only a few people still hanging on. There is the requisite widow in dire straits, and her beautiful daughter Virginia, neither of whom trust our man Wiley, mainly because of the bad feelings his father left behind. There is a lot of information (a whole lot, way too much, over and over and over) about mining claims, shares, stocks, quit-claims, this thing and that other thing and percentages and so on and so forth. Crap, I hate trying to read math stuff. My brain just says Nope, don't wanna, ain't gonna.
The most intriguing character was Death Valley Charley, who knew something about Virginia's father, hinting that he was not really dead. But Death Valley Charley also was a bit touched in the head, insisting that he could see and feel the electricity in the earth, and that he heard the Germans coming. (The story was set during WWI, and Wiley was hoping to find materials in the mine to help the war effort.) One reason I kept on for as long as I did was that I wanted to see if DVC ever took control of the story but if he did, it was after the halfway point.
There are other Coolidge titles at Gutenberg, and I will try another one sometime later this month. Maybe I will have less distractions (are you listening, April?!) and maybe whichever story I pick will be as exciting as The Desert Trail was.
But whether it was Carnaval, or the latest in-law visit, or April the giraffe (when is she going to have that baby?!) or the book itself, I could never get interested in the story. I struggled along to the halfway point, but at yet another chapter full of maths I gave up. I simply never had that 'ooh, gotta go see what is happening' feeling that usually keeps me turning pages.
The story revolves around a mine near Death Valley. The hero Wiley arrives in Keno, which used to be a booming mining town, but now is nearly a ghost town, with only a few people still hanging on. There is the requisite widow in dire straits, and her beautiful daughter Virginia, neither of whom trust our man Wiley, mainly because of the bad feelings his father left behind. There is a lot of information (a whole lot, way too much, over and over and over) about mining claims, shares, stocks, quit-claims, this thing and that other thing and percentages and so on and so forth. Crap, I hate trying to read math stuff. My brain just says Nope, don't wanna, ain't gonna.
The most intriguing character was Death Valley Charley, who knew something about Virginia's father, hinting that he was not really dead. But Death Valley Charley also was a bit touched in the head, insisting that he could see and feel the electricity in the earth, and that he heard the Germans coming. (The story was set during WWI, and Wiley was hoping to find materials in the mine to help the war effort.) One reason I kept on for as long as I did was that I wanted to see if DVC ever took control of the story but if he did, it was after the halfway point.
There are other Coolidge titles at Gutenberg, and I will try another one sometime later this month. Maybe I will have less distractions (are you listening, April?!) and maybe whichever story I pick will be as exciting as The Desert Trail was.
Displaying 1 of 1 review