Colorado!

Wagons West #7

by Dana Fuller Ross

General Lee Blake accepts an assignment from President Buchanan to find out how much gold is present in Colorado and make sure the territory remains part of the Union

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Civil War, Adventure

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, they try to do another Melissa with Caroline Brandon, but it doesn't quite work. And not one man even briefly considers the double standard. Supporting characters are excellent though.

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many characters and I became confused as the story progressed. Also, the West was not rosy for minorities and the author insisted on diversity. However, instead of painting a true picture, proceeded to paint a rosy picture for the characters who were minorities. The plot is a good one and the action was good, but it never became a really good Western.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in this series.

[Ciara Mckinzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I forget how much I love historical fiction.
When I first got Colorado, by Dana Fuller Ross, I didn’t realize it was part of a huge series. I honestly thought I would be bored because I normally don’t enjoy Westerns. So I was very surprised when I got to use the common phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It was a good reminder to always try new things because this book completely changed my expectations of the genre. My only complaint is that the cast is enormous. There are so many characters introduced throughout the story.
I didn’t think 1860s Denver, Colorado, could be so fascinating, especially a story centered around the gold rush. (In school, I always thought this period of history was boring.)
My two favorite plot lines in the book involve Caroline Brandon and Tracy.
Caroline Brandon has an affair despite being married to Luke Brandon, becoming involved with the tough, no-good Willie de Berg, who is genuinely a violent and abusive man. Caroline is so desperate for excitement and passion that she prefers his violence over anything. Ultimately, though, Willie and Caroline are great mirrors of each other because they are both controlling people.
My second favorite plot line was Tracy’s. He travels to Colorado even though his life is not particularly bad where he came from, hoping to gain more wealth and success. When those goals are not easily achieved, we learn that Tracy is willing to murder, rob, and do almost anything to survive and get ahead. I found that storyline especially interesting because it made me think about how much we take simple comforts for granted. Like Sarah Rose’s home cooked meals. It is easy to believe we know what we would do in desperate circumstances, but hunger, fear, and survival can change a person in ways they never expected.


Post script- Compliments to the chef on how realistic Wade Fulton and his relationship with his daughter, Susanna, felt. I especially appreciated the small detail of Susanna calling her father by his first name. In many stories, that choice might make the relationship feel unnatural but here it worked surprisingly well to emphasize the unique dynamic between them and made their relationship feel more authentic! It also made Susanna that much more charismatic oddly. I love Susanna shes my favorite. And I hate Willie he is so dark. This novel is pretty dark if you think about it.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a stand alone book, Colorado! is an average enough western from its era, but seven books into a series it certainly feels like it's just replaying the hits from earlier books. Much like in California!, many of the characters have gone to the state in the hopes of finding gold. It brings bad and criminal elements. The virtuous women have their hearts stolen by the strong men, and the promiscuous woman gets trapped in a life of prostitution. It's less fun the second time reading these same stories.

The only character in this book that's really been around since the beginning is Chet Harris, now a wealthy man in business with his Chinese partner who shared his gold strike in California. Lee Blake also returns in this book, but in pretty limited storytelling. (Once a character gets married in these books, the author(s) seem much less interested in telling their story.) We do get some appearances by children of main characters from earlier in the series, including Andy Brentwood who is in the army and Civil War is on the horizon.

For me, the best storyline in this book involved Tracy Foster. Tracy comes to Colorado for gold but soon discovers he's better suited for robbing and killing people. His brother and sister come looking for him, but Tracy has no interest in going back home with them. The local newspaper ends up calling Tracy the "Grey Ghost" due to the color of his scary, lifeless eyes. It was a bit over the top and hokey but I enjoyed it. Less interesting was anything related to Willie De Berg (this book's other villain, who would do the wrong thing at every moment and of course gets a ridiculous comeuppance at the end).

I'm looking forward to seeing how this book deals with the Civil War, which should be starting soon though I don't know how much action we'll see in Nevada! which comes next.

[Gene Heinrich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't really care for this one in the series. I am beginning to distinguish between which author wrote what book (Noel B. Gerson and James Reasoner write under the Dana Fuller Ross name), but not by name. One of them writes stories, the other writes episodes - if that makes sense. This novel falls in the episodes category. Far to many characters were introduced and it just jumped back and forth from cardboard characters to different plots without really building anything. So far, I believe this is the weakest in the series. Thank god I am only reading the series as brain purges to other novels LOL

[Amanda-Has-A-Bookcase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a solid read. Full of everything that you want in a Wagons West book. Boomtowns, gold, goos girl gone bad and surprise, surprise, Jerome make a camo again (remember him? He did Melissa Austin dirty in the previous book). We see a almost repeat pattern with a girl turned harlot stuck in a gambling hall but the story is just as fun. We also meet new characters Sue the newspaper girl and a Brentwood (a OG offspring from the Oregon Trail crew). Solid story

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. It's a quick pulp fiction story that places our continuing band of characters in Colorado during the gold rush days and the formation of Denver. I especially liked how it felt like a seamless continuation of its predecessor, California.

[Lisa Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seventh book in the Wagons West series, and just as good as the first six! Colorado before it became a state, Denver is a very rough mining town without law enforcement. Saloons, gambling and prostitution run without regard for the law. Another excellent adventure!

[Amanda Eiden · Rating 3 out of 5]

i hated Tracy, but then i was rooting for him??

also, nobody else in these reviews talks about who they think is on the book covers. my best guess for Colorado! is Andy + Susanna, MAYBE Chet + Clara Lou, but i thought Chet was on California! …idk im fucking confused

[Kennedy Maxey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is in my top two of the series so far! I enjoyed the love story with Chet. I do have a feeling Caroline’s story will be a part of the following book. Interested to see if Susanna chooses either man at this point.

[Kat Richter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable light reading. A bit of history, and a lot of fiction, with action and romance thrown in as well.

[Eric Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. Although some of it had the feel of the previous book in the series.

[Michele]

At this point I’m just invested in the series. They read quick, and are entertaining.

[Connlou Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

(c)1981 The gold rush is but a rumor that changes the lives of many. There are wagon trains, lawless town that is being built up, ruthless swindlers and dreams of becoming rich at any cost.

[Lynette Lark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a formula book. Only the names and the states change. It was very Gun Smoke-ish. I picked up another one at a thrift store called "Louisiana!" which I'm looking forward to since I lived there for a while.

[Jennifer Gelert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a re-read for me. I discovered his Wagon's West series years ago. I loved the combination of history with romance, drama and mystery. This book takes place before Colorado becomes a federal territory. Gold has just been discovered and everyone is in a rush to make their fortune. General Lee Blake and his wife Cathy, who traveled with the first wagon train return in this book. We hear how he is on a secret mission from the president to determine if gold and silver are in those hills and if it is worthwhile to make Colorado a free state. Pre- civil war drama is brewing as well. Dana Fuller Ross writes such rich characters. His women are strong and determined. My favorite is Susanna who wears boys clothes and writes for the newspaper. A good read if you like American history. You will learn some things and get caught up in the lives of the characters as well.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, as was the entire series, was light and entertaining. I read the entire series and the Holt Dynasty series (except the last one). It seems that toward the end the character of the books changed from the adventure of populating the U.S. To books about the relationships between characters. It also appears the author begin to lose interest in the project and tried to move it along to the finish. However, after (about) 33-34 books I was ready to be finished too. Still, books with familiar characters are easy to start and the series was worth reading.

[Duncan Leung · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made my mistake by assuming from that the synopsis would be a good read. But it certainly does not cater to my taste. The novel is too community oriented when I was looking for action-packed fun.
Less characters and more depth would be my cup of tea, but then again it is a community, with some characters I could not care less.

[Mgsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

May sound somewhat repetitive here but I got hooked on the first book and it was like an addiction.
The author shows how the westward movement affected families and individuals while placing them within history itself.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, it was OK but not my favorite. The historical part of the settling of Colorado in the 1860's due to the gold rush was interesting. Maybe the authors style of writing was a little too superficial. Anywho...

[Partridge Public]

Ross, Dana Fuller PB

[Cws]

W Ros

[Dianne]

I listened to this book. It does have plenty of excitment in it.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found the story of Caroline a little repetitious of Melissa's story in California...but still a page turner!

[Billye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent- the story goes on with some of the same characters. About gold being discovered in Colorado in 1858.

[Virginia Markhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok story but it seemed like the same scenarios are being rehashed. Only thing that changed is geography.

[Mandy Pinoteau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series started out good but as it progresses the books become duller and duller.

[David A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

#7 in the Wagons West series.

[bert-bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

always enjoy this series of audio books