Trail from St. Augustine

by Lee Gramling

Cracker Westerns are rip-roarin, action-packed, can't-put-'em-down tales set in the frontier days of Florida. They are full of adventure, real heroes, and vivid, authentic details that bring Florida's history to life. In the spring of 1771, John MacKenzie arrives in British-ruled St. Augustine after a year of fur trapping. He is quickly drawn into an adventure that involves defending a young woman indentured to the powerful and treacherous James Tyrone. MacKenzie and Becky Campbell set out across the untamed Florida wilderness, accompanied by a crusty sailor named Blackpool Bobby and Jeremiah, a black slave-hunter. They are pursued by Tyrone's murderous trackers toward buried gold and a showdown on the windswept sands of the Florida Gulf coast.
Next in series > > See all of the books in this series

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

Reviews

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Westerns are not my favorite genre but when one is set in St. Augustine, one of my favorite places on the planet, and is subtitled as "a cracker western", then I kind of have to give it a try. I enjoyed this one but I am not certain that I would have appreciated it so much if I didn't love the setting so much. It was easy for me to picture everything that they were experiencing and I longed to be there. I would love so much to see Central Florida as it was back in the eighteenth century. I particularly loved one passage describing the setting.

"It was at times like this that MacKenzie felt a peace he had not known elsewhere in the world, even on the broad oceans or in the high mountains where he'd lived much of his adult life. Like those places, the Florida frontier was a man's country, rich with the promise of growth and renewal, of life and ferment and death. Violent sometimes, even cruel, yet with all of that it was a land filled to the brim with the joy and the wonder of living."

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story. Really enjoyed the background and being familiar with the areas where the book takes place let me really step back in time, like I was there.

[Anne Vandenbrink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visiting Florida, I'm always interested in the history of the places I visit. Lee Gramling's books are taken from tales he heard from his grandparents and have authentic historical details. It give the reader a good idea of what the Florida frontier was like.

[Sarah Arntson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, fast-paced, easy read. I liked the Florida setting and the simple good guy, bad guy story line. I'd read another in the series. It's a book I could recommend to my mother because of the clean language.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice to read a "Western" set in Florida, but it felt very dated, written in the 30s or 40s, and the story was nothing special.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll read more from this author.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Folks have been telling me for years to read Lee Gramling and, over the years, I picked up the Pineapple Press series. I just read my first one after starting to collect them in the 1990s. I almost wish I had not cracked open the book and just ride the praise I've heard of them.

The story starts in 1700s British St. Augustine and continues in the northern part of the state. That is, if you want to call it a story. It's a very flimsy premise that is cloaked in a novel length chase toward a common goal. The writing is almost Ok and the narrative about the outdoors is less than that. His best writing is during the many scenes of action.

What might have my opinion extra low is reading prior to this Frank Slaughter's 'Storm Haven' that is so beautifully written and well researched. This book pales in comparison. Gramling, being a fifth generation Floridian, I am sure did his best to construct the best novel he could about early Florida. He just needed direction in plotting, narrative and story telling.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great prose, but interes.ting tale