What do you think?
Rate this book
Scoundrel in the Thick
Colorado, 1882. When his best friend’s fiancée is kidnapped, an unlikely hero must battle robber barons, bandit gangs, the US Cavalry, and Cheyenne warriors to bring her home. Along the way, he will also have to foil a plot to steal a country.
Civil war hero and adventurer Thomas Scoundrel didn’t expect the search for his friend’s fiancée in frontier Colorado to be easy. He also didn’t expect to be beaten and tossed into a desert ravine by a powerful cattle baron, tortured and held captive in an Indian village, or pursued for weeks by dozens of hired guns.
He teams up with Marshal Bat Masterson, reunites with his old friend Buffalo Bill Cody, and falls under the spell of a ravishing native healer known as Dawn Pillow. A German paleontologist comes to his aid, along with a wild Scottish preacher, a Cossack army officer, an opera-loving Cheyenne chief and the legendary bandit leader, Demetria Carnál.
Much of the action takes place outside Denver during an international fishing tournament where young Adolf Coors serves up beer, author Mark Twain makes an impassioned speech, and Mary Orvis teaches anglers how to tie a fly.
Mix in a ‘flying’ T-Rex, poetic silver miners, fly-fishing native warriors, Oscar Wilde, a plot to steal northern Mexico and, of course, plenty of dynamite, and Scoundrel in the Thick takes the historical novel to new heights of adventure and humor.
Civil war hero and adventurer Thomas Scoundrel didn’t expect the search for his friend’s fiancée in frontier Colorado to be easy. He also didn’t expect to be beaten and tossed into a desert ravine by a powerful cattle baron, tortured and held captive in an Indian village, or pursued for weeks by dozens of hired guns.
He teams up with Marshal Bat Masterson, reunites with his old friend Buffalo Bill Cody, and falls under the spell of a ravishing native healer known as Dawn Pillow. A German paleontologist comes to his aid, along with a wild Scottish preacher, a Cossack army officer, an opera-loving Cheyenne chief and the legendary bandit leader, Demetria Carnál.
Much of the action takes place outside Denver during an international fishing tournament where young Adolf Coors serves up beer, author Mark Twain makes an impassioned speech, and Mary Orvis teaches anglers how to tie a fly.
Mix in a ‘flying’ T-Rex, poetic silver miners, fly-fishing native warriors, Oscar Wilde, a plot to steal northern Mexico and, of course, plenty of dynamite, and Scoundrel in the Thick takes the historical novel to new heights of adventure and humor.
670 pages, Paperback
Published November 15, 2021
17 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
B.R. O'Hagan
6 books4 followersB.R. went to UCLA as an undergraduate and graduate student and taught history for several years before going to work in film and television. He did series development for two Hollywood studios, and was a script-doctor for a host of Los Angeles-based film and TV writers before returning to his native Oregon, where he purchased a 19th century farmhouse at the literal ‘end’ of a graveled country road. It was there, surrounded by thousands of acres of old-growth forest 20 miles from the nearest small town, that B.R. began the next phase of his writing career.
He developed a reputation as one of the leading ghostwriters in the nation, and over a two-decade period he wrote for more than a dozen Fortune 100 CEOs, including the head of the world’s largest energy company, the CEO of the biggest aviation firm, and the founder of the world’s largest hotel organization. His other clients have included the heads of tech firms, leaders of global real-estate development companies, chairmen of multi-national aerospace firms, and the founders and owners of some of the largest retail chains in the world. He has also written for two current state governors, a former United States Secretary of State, and two other Cabinet members. In all, B.R. has ghost-authored 24 published books, including several national bestsellers.
In addition, he has authored more than a hundred articles and opinion pieces for clients that have appeared in national and international publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, MONEY, Newsweek, Forbes, The Economist, The Financial Times, and dozens of other publications.
In 2019, B.R. began the move from ghost-writing to producing his own works. He published the novel Martin’s Way, the family Christmas book, Jonathan Marvel’s Christmas Pockets, and 7 Prologues, a compilation of introductory pieces he did for books about some of his subjects.
B.R. lives in the Willamette Valley, where he writes in a converted barn in the pasture behind his home, just minutes from some of the finest pinot noir vineyards in the world.
He developed a reputation as one of the leading ghostwriters in the nation, and over a two-decade period he wrote for more than a dozen Fortune 100 CEOs, including the head of the world’s largest energy company, the CEO of the biggest aviation firm, and the founder of the world’s largest hotel organization. His other clients have included the heads of tech firms, leaders of global real-estate development companies, chairmen of multi-national aerospace firms, and the founders and owners of some of the largest retail chains in the world. He has also written for two current state governors, a former United States Secretary of State, and two other Cabinet members. In all, B.R. has ghost-authored 24 published books, including several national bestsellers.
In addition, he has authored more than a hundred articles and opinion pieces for clients that have appeared in national and international publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, MONEY, Newsweek, Forbes, The Economist, The Financial Times, and dozens of other publications.
In 2019, B.R. began the move from ghost-writing to producing his own works. He published the novel Martin’s Way, the family Christmas book, Jonathan Marvel’s Christmas Pockets, and 7 Prologues, a compilation of introductory pieces he did for books about some of his subjects.
B.R. lives in the Willamette Valley, where he writes in a converted barn in the pasture behind his home, just minutes from some of the finest pinot noir vineyards in the world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 28, 2022
Set in my own stomping grounds, Scoundrel in the Thick by B.R. O’Hagan is probably one of my favorite reads of the year. When I was little, I visited the graves of many of the characters found within this long and highly entertaining historical fiction novel. (Reading that back, I guess my family vacations were filled with odd detours to gravesites. “Look, son! That’s where Buffalo Bill’s bones are.”)
The story starts with a bang (literally) and doesn’t let up. From the history behind Thomas Scoundrel’s name to the intense fight scenes, I found myself “binge watching” the novel. Each chapter is like an episode itself, and as other reviewers have mentioned, this book would make a great series. Not that I’m advocating for one form of artistry to become another, but that’s the way the novel is written and it works well. The screenwriter in my head was, at times, translating the words to scenes in a script.
Scoundrel’s goal is to rescue his best friend’s fiancée, but like any good plot, there is a slew of obstacles. O’Hagan does a great job leading us through the West from the battlefields of the Civil War to Colorado to Mexico to the Arizona and New Mexico territories. Each stop along the way is described in just the right amount of detail that I could place myself there in the year in which it was set. There is political intrigue, intense action scenes, both dramatic and comedic moments, and even some well-paced romance.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially the Western, but only if it’s done right. For that to be true, I need to feel like I’m embedded in the story with all the details of the time period in which it is set correct. Although I tried (because I’m that kind of a reader), I could not find a single anachronism to call out. O’Hagan’s extensive research is apparent in this novel, and I personally cannot wait until the next installment (oddly enough, also set in one of my old stomping grounds). Scoundrel in the Thick is a novel that now sits next to Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry and Zane Grey on my bookshelf as a great Western to revisit again.
The story starts with a bang (literally) and doesn’t let up. From the history behind Thomas Scoundrel’s name to the intense fight scenes, I found myself “binge watching” the novel. Each chapter is like an episode itself, and as other reviewers have mentioned, this book would make a great series. Not that I’m advocating for one form of artistry to become another, but that’s the way the novel is written and it works well. The screenwriter in my head was, at times, translating the words to scenes in a script.
Scoundrel’s goal is to rescue his best friend’s fiancée, but like any good plot, there is a slew of obstacles. O’Hagan does a great job leading us through the West from the battlefields of the Civil War to Colorado to Mexico to the Arizona and New Mexico territories. Each stop along the way is described in just the right amount of detail that I could place myself there in the year in which it was set. There is political intrigue, intense action scenes, both dramatic and comedic moments, and even some well-paced romance.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially the Western, but only if it’s done right. For that to be true, I need to feel like I’m embedded in the story with all the details of the time period in which it is set correct. Although I tried (because I’m that kind of a reader), I could not find a single anachronism to call out. O’Hagan’s extensive research is apparent in this novel, and I personally cannot wait until the next installment (oddly enough, also set in one of my old stomping grounds). Scoundrel in the Thick is a novel that now sits next to Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry and Zane Grey on my bookshelf as a great Western to revisit again.
June 16, 2022
In full disclosure, I know the author and that made this "initially" a real task of starting a book of fiction because it is something I seldom do, and if I do it's usually science fiction or a spy thriller. The surprise for me was that I was immediately captured by the story and really had great difficulty putting it down as there is compelling action I think in just about every chapter. The characters are well developed, and you build a relationship (good and bad) with each. The setting for the story follows the U.S. Civil war, a very uncertain time. It starts in New York City and finishes a little south of Mexico City. The action is frequent, gripping, and quite graphic. The scenes are so well captured you feel like you are there, from the smells of gun smoke and grandeur of scenic vistas to the sizzle of the steaks grilling. And oh yes, if you are not a person with a taste for good food and wine, you will be by the end of the book. It is historic fiction, but the author clearly did a good bit of background research to make it palpably real. In light of the events of today, I'm really not sure that it couldn't have happened. I cannot wait for the next in the series!
August 11, 2024
Wow! Best assessment I can make, mix: the easy reading cowboy swag of the Lonesome Dove saga; the utter brutality of Blood Meridian; the amorous adventures of Tom Jones; the tale spinning yarn of Paul Bunyon; Manifest Destiny empowerment; encounters with iconic personalities of the 1800's; a nonlinear timeline which is ingeniously crafted into a totally seamless adventure. Epic Americana. Historical Western fiction. Pulpy and trashy blend of adventure fiction any Doc Savage fan would love. Not for kids!(no no no). There are 5 more volumes to come (#2 already published). I can only imagine. However, the book is uneven in its placement of character, setting, action, and history. Around half way through.the book was a 5 star read with a well balanced mesh of aforementioned attributes. The vibe was like the old time Western 'penny dreadfuls', where fact and fiction becomes a yarn and fanciful yokum. Ok. Fine. But there are enough retelling of this story's overall mission to each new participants (as Scoundrel.& Co. travel across the 1800's frontier) to where the reader gets it already. These plot points become redundant. The last 100 pages (probably more) are non-stop action. Guns, knives, and a brutality inclusions rival 'Blood Meridian '. More sexual escapades by our titular hero that is way overworked. Should of kept the book length by 50%. More triggers here than really necessary for the plot.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews