Spirit Horses

by Alan S. Evans

In the hills of Tennessee, Shane Carson, a gifted, nationally-recognized horseman, is living the good life. When a mysterious mustang shows up on his farm, Shane doesn't know how--or why--the horse appeared, but the horse's distinctive brand identifies her. She is one of the Spirit Horses, a rare, wild herd that runs free on the Shoshone reservation in Wyoming. Watched over for centuries in the tribe's ancestral valleys, these exquisite horses, according to belief, provide a link to the afterlife.When tragedy strikes in his life, Shane nearly loses his will to live--but for one promise he made to his young to return the mustang to her rightful home.On this bittersweet journey, Shane finds a world where tradition reigns, and ancient beliefs transcend modern logic. In this magnificent expanse of blue sky and wide open spaces, love is alive, but hate, intolerance, and greed threaten to close in.To make good on his vow, Shane must face the danger that threatens these horses, the tribe's legacy, and his destiny.

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Horses, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Native American

360 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish this book had been as well written as the marketing blurb! I kept reading it just because the author's descriptions of the Wyoming country and the horses were so loving, it was obvious this book meant a great deal to the author. The writing, however, was very clunky and juvenile. It was also obvious that the author did not do much research into native spiritual traditions because, contrary to the promise of the blurb, these took a backseat to the standard-issue good guy/bad guy story. The author admits at the end that the spiritual traditions he mentioned were fiction, so at least he was honest about that. And, I don't know what software was used to convert the book to an e-publication, but it was awful -- most pages had no separation or indentation between paragraphs, and some pages even cut sentences in half. A book with promise unfulfilled.

[Sharon Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this one free and truly was not expecting a lot. The introduction did not encourage me to believe the author would not make substantial errors around the horses, the region or the Native American culture.

I was pleasantly surprised and I suspect the author may be a horseman himself. The natural horsemanship training methods were developed in depth and they were accurate (been there, done that myself). While there were some a bit 'off' here and there about the region and the Shoshone characters, they weren't glaring errors and the "Native American mysticism" was handled with a light, very deft touch.

A bit too much chick lit/romance for my general taste but the accuracy of the horses and training kept me reading. There are things that did indicate this was a first book, but as a lifelong horse person myself, I would not hesitate to recommend this for readers who insist their fictional horse involvement be accurate and it should also appeal to the romance readers who prefer some restraint in their romances.

Overall, better than just 'okay' although more of a "liked most of it" rather than really liked it, but a very encouraging first book and I'd certainly try something else by this author.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spirit Horses. It was the Horses that made me choose this free Kindle book over the hundreds of others sitting on my Kindle. And for the first 45% or so, I thought I'd made a great decision. Sure, there were a few "that's pretty lame" moments and "who the heck talks like that" spots (for example, one too many "Hey, mister" greetings), but for the most part it was smooth sailing.

And then it just fell apart.
Or maybe it had been this way the whole time, but I was extra bored the night I started it.

The sentences are choppy, yet the author is saying too much that isn't relevant to the story.

Before he knew it, they were on their third round of beers, and they began telling bad jokes and laughing loudly. Hawk came by to sit for a while but soon moved on.

There was NO need to mention Hawk coming to sit and then getting up. It was not relevant to anything whatsoever. There were so parts like this and so many parts that were just repetitive. If I had to hear about Tara's smokin' bod one more time, I was going to poke my eyes out with my toothbrush. I found myself skimming and not caring what happened to Shane.

Two Pros:
-The descriptions of the land were gorgeous.
-The author obviously has experience with/knowledge of horses, horse training and clinics, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed all parts that were about the horses.

Two Cons:
-Shane saving the entire tribe and winning the respect of every damn person. You are no Dances With Wolves, my friend. You also do not get to have a relationship with EVERYONE. THERE JUST ISN'T TIME. You also do not get to have a traumatic day with a couple of the guys and then come back and decide to go on a date with your woman and have a great time. It doesn't work that way.
-The writing that read like a poorly written novel. I know I should pretty much expect this with a free Kindle book, but I still had high hopes.

I'd give the first half 3 stars and the second half 1.5. I'll settle on 2 Stars.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

While searching for a book that was not on my ‘read and review’ list requested by authors, I came across Spirit Horses, and the title alone captured my attention. The description stated it was about the Shoshone culture on a reservation in Wyoming and it included wild mustangs. I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down. The novel is absolutely captivating on every page.

The writing is outstanding, describing the beautiful scenes in Wyoming and the intense characters throughout the book. The main character, Shane, is a horse trainer, one of the best in the circuit. I felt like I was sitting in the saddle with Shane while he trained these beautiful animals.

Spirit Horses is a combination of genres: fiction, adventure, romance, suspense, and a great western. To say more about the story would be an injustice to the reader. Feel confident if you enjoy the genres I’ve listed, and love horses, reading about the Shoshone culture, and wild mustangs in Wyoming, you will love Spirit Horses as much as I did. I have not cried reading a story in a very long time.

A perfect way to end a great book is with an unpredictable ending. Alan S. Evans nailed it in Spirit Horses.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A horse trainer, gifted with the ability to truly connect with animals, takes in a wild mustang, saving it from the slaughterhouse. After a terrible tragedy befalls him, bringing him to his knees and almost crushing him, he discovers a reason to live in a school report left by his young son.

Shane Carson, once a man with everything, now a mere skeleton of himself since his family was taken from him, embarks on a quest to fulfill his son's wish to see the mustang reunited with her herd, the Spirit Horses, a rare, wild herd running free in Wyoming while being protected by the Shoshone on their reservation. These majestic animals are said to date back in their bloodlines several hundred years and are the believed to be a link to the afterlife.

Greed, prejudice and cruelty almost destroy the herd and prevent Shane from reaching his goal. What transpires when he arrives in Wyoming and its well-detailed land draws the reader in, evoking anger, sadness and joy for these animals and the people who honor them.

This is a wonderful read, whether you are a horse-lover or not!

[Bluejay44 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this right from the first page. Shane really cares for the horses he works with and does not rush to get results. After losing his family in a tragic accident, he does lose himself for a while but then recovers to take up the promise he had made to his son. The task is not as simple or as clear cut as he expects. Human nature, greed and cruelty all get in the way. But wonderful characters also play their part in the action, equine and canine as well as human.

This book is a definite keeper for me and will be read again at a later date.

[Mary E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book right from page one. There were a lot of twists and turns in the story that were not expected and some that were.

The characters were engaging right from the start and I felt I knew them. The book had a romantic involvement that didn't become light porn in the description. I like this authors style and will look for further work of his.

I could imagine the landscape he described because he shaped my imagination but didn't insult it with a description that went on for pages. This was a light read yet an engaging one.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got this book for free. I thought the writing style was quite juvenile. This left me very disappointed. There was absolutely no depth to this story whatsoever. The only redeeming quality was that it was about horses.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love a good horsey book, I've got to say

I enjoyed Shane's character and really connected with him, but did feel that some of the other characters were a little under developed so struggled to get along with them. I loved that there was lots of "horsey" bits in the book and didn't drop that to the kerb once the storyline got going.

My only main criticism would be that the ending seemed to be very abrupt and rushed, the story developed at a nice pace and flowed along nicely to just end in a few pages, I would have loved an extra chapter to just finish it off nicely.

[Parita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic, myths, mystery, destiny and reality weave into each other

Shane Carson, a renowned horseman is living his dream when fate takes an unexpected turn. Embarking on a journey then to release a mysterious mare only to keep a promise, Shane is thrown into rescuing the wild spirit horses of the Shoshone tribe. Watched over for centuries in the tribe's ancestral valleys, these exquisite horses, according to belief, provide a link to the afterlife.

This is a story of magic, myths and destiny, interwoven with the loss and love of real life. Evans has mixed these just in the right proportions to create a believable story that leaves you turning the book pages till you finish and gasping for more when indeed you do finish. More than anything, it leaves you warm inside, making you reflect on the magic mystery and myth of your life. A surreal tale that will carry you to wonderland.

[Furrawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s got a lovely sentiment.

The writing was a bit less polished sometimes. The story was sometimes simply not believable for me.

Every reader bring himself/herself to a book so perhaps this just wasn’t a good fit.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can see by the four stars I really liked this book. Shane Carson is a horse trainer that takes the time with a horse and gets wonderful results. He has a ranch in Tennessee with a wife and two children. When tragedy hits, Shane goes into a tail spin. But a promise to his son pulls him out of it two years later.

So he makes the long journey to the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming to keep that promise. There he learns the from the Shoshone people about their beliefs concerning "The Spirit Horses". The belief that the Spirit Horses carry their dead to their final resting place and that they need to be protected by the tribe. This herds blood line has been traced back hundreds of years. Now it is endanger from a rancher who wants the lands.

The book took me right to the beautiful mountains and hills of Wyoming. I could imagine the landscape in the authors story telling.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of the best books that I've read in a while. There were so many twists and turns that keep the reader's attention, while at the same time keeping to a family, love story. The Indians and horses simply walk off the pages and come to life and leave the reader wanting more. At the end of the I thought I really want more, but sometimes all good things have to end. This was my first read by Alan Evans, but it won't be my last. Great writing and even better reading.

[Bria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tear jerker, so mascara, beware. The story is fairly well written. The e-book version I read was annoying at times. The paragraphs sometimes weren't indented, the type set would go whonky sometimes too and often places where there should have been some decent white space to indicate a change in time and place there was nothing... not even an indented paragraph to indicate the shift before you jumped into another setting entirely. This was rather distracting from a decent story line, so I took away a star for that. So really, the story itself is a 4 star. Not life changing, but I did connect pretty well with the main character. The rest of the characters, not so much. They could have used some more developing. Perhaps the author was going for the "mysterious Indian" character... with all the Indians, but it came across more as "these characters don't really matter." Would have loved some more description of the landscape, as it was continually described as beautiful, but not much detail was given to make it come alive for me. The Indian lore was pretty interesting. Was rather disappointed to find in the end that it was all made up. Guess I'd rather have read the disclaimer at the beginning rather than the end. Overall, a good story and not a bad read to keep you company on a long car ride or plane trip.

[Karen Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was Great: The plot, characters, emotions, scenery and plight of the horses.

What I had a problem with: the chunks of "story teller" passages.

I understand the need to condense larger amounts of information for the sake of book length, but I didn't care for the longer voice-over type of narratives toward the beginning of the novel. I felt like a really good editor would have pruned and condensed these areas for better readability. Had it not been for the things that were great about this novel, I wouldn't have been able to overlook the parts that irked me.

Now, with all that said, this is a book that I could see some Hollywood big-shot making into a fabulous movie. It has it all-- heartache, tragedy, a man on a mission, second-chance love, beautiful scenery, historical references, and an ending that you won't see coming.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not understand the author's decision to name a beautiful gray mustang Sloppy. Seriously? I don't care if it was his kid who named the horse that was just wrong on the writer's part. He could have been more creative with that. I'd hoped for more from the book but was disappointed. When my mind starts wandering over the pages, I know I've lost interest. Repetitive. The ending was a tad redeeming, but not much. I will say I didn't have much to pick at through the horse parts. Evans seems to know horses quite well. Good descriptions about Wyoming, for the most part. At least, Shane was a good man and I did like that. Enough said.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had a lot of heart. Author Alan S. Evans shows his knowledge and expertise about horses, his reverence for them, and for the "cowboy" way of life. However, the actual writing itself didn't flow very smoothly, and there were quite a few scenes or passages that didn't serve a purpose other than being fillers. That said, despite the mediocre writing, Evans does a good job portraying the Shoshone's way of life, their myth of spirit horses, as well as a man's quest to honor his promise to his son and love for his family, to the forefront and into readers' hearts.

[Lyndsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very low two.... This felt like a very long, poorly written summary of a book I'd like to read. The plot had so much potential and the author's knowledge of the subject matter was obvious. However, the execution was painful. The adverb choice and use was enough to drive an English teacher up the wall. Another reviewer described the writing style as juvenile; I agree with that and find it much kinder than I would have chosen. Another example of a great book in need of a powerful editor or perhaps even ghost writer. I have got to stop getting the Kindle freebies... :/

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have given three stars because the story line is good, the characters well drawn. It becomes a little sugary at times, but it does not detract too much. The descriptions of the countryside are vivid, as are those of the mustangs and the Shoshone. I would recommend this book to those readers who love horses and a story that does not demand too much imagination - a nice weekend read.

In my opinion the book would have benefitted from some solid editing. All in all a good read.

[Natty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so disappointed!! The description looked incredible, but the actual writing is so so..... elementary. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 only because it had horses in it, and I love horses ;D. I got 30% through it (very quickly) before I had to say I've had enough. I desperately wish the writing was able to do the story justice, but alas.....

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly the story kept me some what interested - mostly because I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen - and I was right. This book had zero originality and was overly stereotyped. It was like a bad bad western and romance novel combined, uggg 99 cents wasted!!

[Lea Jessop · Rating 1 out of 5]

sappy made for TV movie plot. The white man comes to save the poor indians - and falls in love.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shane losses his family and his will to live. He had promised his son that they would someday return their wild mustang to the wild. So returning Sloppy ( I know you're thinking what the heck, me too fair reader me too) to the wilds of Wyoming helps him get purpose back in his life.

While he is there he helps the Shoshones with their wild mustangs. A bunch of very evil people were trying to kill off the herd so they could take the land for oil. Shane comes to love these people especially Tara and Tommy.

Maybe 15 years ago the "white guy helps the native americans" wouldn't have bothered me, so I tried to overlook it. Although even in 2009 we all knew not to use the "I" word. So I guess the author placed the story back in time when it was ok to call them that. I'm pretty sure though that Native Americans never called themselves that. I suppose I could be wrong. I was also bothered by Shane teaching Tommy how to treat horses. I feel like a tribe that holds horses so dear would probably know how to gentle them, but again without research I might be wrong. What angered me the most was Jenn's mom hanging around for weeks because Shane was a mess. Hello. Her daughter, her family too. She shouldn't be window dressing for Shane's pain.

Letting all of that go, I tried to just enjoy the story for entertainment sake. Shane and his new friends in Wyoming were all really cool. Well written fleshed out people. I wanted Shane to stay and we family with these people.


The bad guys were over the top mean. There was an almost rape scene. Honestly I wasn't sure it would be an almost.

After fighting tooth and nail to enjoy this book, the ending was awful. Blegh.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Horses and Native American based. Learned a lot of horse tips and information about Native American traditions too. Very good story but saddened my heart when they told about the horses being killed. A rich man thought their was oil on their land and wasn't letting it be know to them. Shane this man who someone gave this horse to because they couldn't train it right. Took the horse since he was a horse trainer and he also used to do seminars.. Searching the horses history he found out the horse was from a long heritage of wild horses from native land.
After Shane lost his family he followed his sons wishes to take the horse back to there and set him free. So much goes on from there good and bad in the story.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horse training parts were a wonderful read. Assume this is the author's area of expertise.
Native American lore was poorly researched.
I was put off by the fact that the Shoshone woman he was attracted to had blue eyes and a white ancestor. She was a wonderful character but why did the author feel he had to give her mixed heritage. Couldn't our hero been attracted to a dark-eyed, darker skinned woman.
I was also distracted by the continuous halting of the narrative to explain what the situation was and why the characters were acting as they were. The author was doing a good job of moving the plot forward within the narrative; these insertions were an annoying and needless repetition of what the reader already knows.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOOD BOOK FOR HORSE LOVERS

Great plot, good book. Never a dull moment, I like
the book.
I noticed a practice in this book that I have seen in
others,  there is likely a good reason for it that authors
understand.
I am referring to two of the main characters  have
very similar names, to me it is distracting.
For example, in SPIRIT HORSES the name of the 
heroine is TARA  and the name of his dog is TORY, both
have only 4 letters and start with the letter "T"
It takes a few seconds to separate them and realize
which is his girlfriend and which is his dog.
What is gained by this similarity in names?
It disrupts the smooth flow of words in the book.

[remazera · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars rating
It is was a good and refreshing read of a horse based novel.
I did not like the transition of the first few chapters in the book, you could tell the author wanted to get over with this quickly. I felt like he should have taken his time building the first part of the book before offering all of it the second part of the book.
I was disappointed to know most of the spiritual beliefs at the end were from the Author imagination, I hoped they were true (personally). I liked the book because it gave a perspective on the Red Indians, even tho I am not sure how much of it was true.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of My Favorites

I thought this book was very enjoyable. While there were a few grammatical errors, it mostly read along smoothly. What I mean is that you didn’t need a dictionary nor some technical journey to explain the meaning. While I sometimes love books that make me think, I usually want something like this when I want to relax. It was such a good store, I kept wondering if any of it was based on reality.

There were good guys and bad guys; cowboys and Indians; and love and loss. Something for almost anyone. But for me the story was as sweeping as the skies can be and I loved it. I hope you will too. This is an author I will definitely be looking for again

[barbara caine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Amazing horse story, Love that horses can give, teach anyone. This has been one of most enjoyable book I've read in long time. It has love of family, Sorrow from lose, Human Greed, Hate that can reach beyond belief and what evil can do. Explores legend of great Indian nation. This is a " can't put down ". I want to buy for family members but because some language, I can not for the younger group. I will tell them the story but it is a book of LOVE FOR THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF THE WILD MUSTANGS. They should be able read, learn, and enjoy. Such a powerful story! I hope there are more.

[Kathy Monroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing emotional roller coaster adventure. From a family man to having no one due to a horrible accident, Shane is tossed into a very dark emotional place. But because of a horse that had been brought into his family's life and the promise he made to his son to return this horse to its rightful home in the Wind River Valley in Wyoming, he begins an adventure of incredible danger, love, and friendship of Shoshone Indians, 2 wolf pups, and a young boy. You just have to read this story. This is one I won't forget.