Awakening

The Holts #10

by Dana Fuller Ross

Leaving her family to make her New York City debut in 1900, sixteen-year-old Sally watches her dream shattered amid the tumult of history, while her best friend India rises to a pinnacle of unwanted fame and discovers a depth of unforgettable tragedy. Original.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Historical

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Dana Fuller Ross is a pseudonym used by Noel B. Gerson and James M. Reasoner.

Noel Gearson specializes in historical military novels, westerns, and mysteries. He also writes under the pseudonyms, "Dana Fuller Ross.", Anne Marie Burgess; Michael Burgess; Nicholas Gorham; Paul Lewis; Leon Phillips; Donald Clayton Porter; Philip Vail; and Carter A. Vaughan. He has written more than 325 novels.

James Reasoner (pictured) is an American writer. He is the author of more than 150 books and many short stories in a career spanning more than thirty years. Reasoner has used at least nineteen pseudonyms, in addition to his own name: Jim Austin; Peter Danielson; Terrance Duncan; Tom Early; Wesley Ellis; Tabor Evans; Jake Foster; William Grant; Matthew Hart; Livia James; Mike Jameson; Justin Ladd; Jake Logan; Hank Mitchum; Lee Morgan; J.L. Reasoner (with his wife); Dana Fuller Ross; Adam Rutledge; and Jon Sharpe. Since most of Reasoner's books were written as part of various existing Western fiction series, many of his pseudonyms were publishing "house" names that may have been used by other authors who contributed to those series

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tenth and final novel in “The Holts” series (itself a follow-on series to The Frontier trilogy, The Empire trilogy, and the 24-book “Wagons West” series, chronologically speaking), is very different than its predecessors. All of the previous books have covered just one or two years in the progression of history across America, but this one covers from 1900-1941 all by itself. Consequently, it never delves too deeply into any specific aspect of that historical period but instead provides a more cursory look at such things as WWI, Prohibition, the plight of migrant farm workers in California, the rise of the unions, Women’s suffrage, and political events in general.

The novel revolves around just two main characters: India Blackstone and Sally Holt. Frank Blake also gets a lot of screen time but only as a supporting character this time around. Their lives unfold against the backdrop of the rapid advancement of history, both being buffeted about by their own decisions as well as events beyond their control. Many other familiar characters make cameo appearances here and there or are at least mentioned so we can keep up with their lives too. This only bothered me one time, when a major character (one that’s been around for about 25 books or so) inevitably dies but it happens off stage and in such a casual way that I felt cheated. If a reader is coming to this as a standalone novel, then that’s not a big deal at all.

And thus, I come to the end of a humongous series. I read the first book back in 1997 with no plans at all to read more than the four I had sitting on the shelf, given to me by my mother who was cleaning out her paperback shelves at the time. Back then I was reading much more sci-fi, fantasy, and thriller-type books so these were quite different than my usual fare and perhaps that’s why I kept going. I’m a sucker for long family sagas anyway, enjoying the multiple-generational connections. My favorites of the entire 40-book series are easily the two prequel trilogies, probably because I love frontier/mountain man stories. They were also the only six that were written by James Reasoner, one of my favorite authors.

So I feel like I’ve earned an achievement of some kind, like in a video game, perhaps a badge to add to my Goodreads profile for completing the entire 40-book run. However, I still see my bookshelves are loaded down with other similar long series so I suppose I will turn to one of those instead and start another 20+ year reading odyssey. Why not?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like it was pumped out by a robot (which it kind of was), but you know what? For a light, quick read, it's not that bad. Slim-to-no literary merit, but it's fun and breezy. And I love when historical fiction books shoe-horn in ridiculous amount of historical references. Our beloved male love interest, Frank had--by page 33--gotten involved with Jane Addams and her settlement house movement and taken up with Bill Haywood and the IWW to agitate on behalf of labor. And it only got goofier from there.

Middling book, but good for a refreshing mindless read.

[Catstaff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, light read, if not quite up to the standards of the rest of the series. I think this one tries to cover too big of a timespan and too many world events, so much of the story feels rushed to me. Still, a fair wrap-up of a well-liked series.

[dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

didnt realize that this was the 10th in a series until after i bought it but it didn't impact reading at all. really enjoyable and a quick read - i found myself thinking about the book a lot when i wasn't reading it, too. will have to pick up some others from the series.

[Minnikin]

I wish this book had been allowed to be ten books instead. India, Frank, and Sally deserved more.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like a robot trying to use characters to hit all important events but without playing attention to character or even plot. Boring and stupid.

[Cws]

W Ros

[Michael Garreffa`]

Borrowed from the Library in Large Print.