John D. Nesbitt is the author of more than forty books, including traditional westerns, crossover western mysteries, contemporary western fiction, retro/noir fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
He has won the Western Writers of America Spur Award four times–twice for paperback novel, once for short story, and once for poem. He has been a finalist for the Spur Award once as well as for the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award twice and the Will Rogers Medallion Award four times. He has also received two creative writing fellowships with the Wyoming Arts Council (once for fiction, once for nonfiction).
John has had a distinguished career as a college instructor, most notably for thirty-eight years at Eastern Wyoming College. He lives in the plains country of Wyoming, where he stays in touch with the natural world and the settings for his work. He writes about lifelike people in realistic situations, people who deserve justice and a fair shake in life.
Recent works include Castle Butte, a young adult novel; Dusk Along the Niobrara, a frontier mystery; and In a Large and Lonesome Land, a CD of western songs for which he wrote all the lyrics.
This was a great read for an western fan. I grew up reading Louis L'Amour and I've missed "his" writing. The Sackett series was the greatest and I read them over and over again.
John Nesbitt reminds me of Louis a lot and that says something!!! I'll definitely continue to read his books. He has a new fan in me!!
A drifter in Wyoming named Will Dryden is hired by a woman to find her missing husband. She doesn't have a lot to tell Dryden about the missing man's work or what he might be up to, but she knows he was heading for the town of Thorne, about a day's ride away. Dryden heads out there looking for a chance to inquire as to the missing man's whereabouts without raising any suspicions and ends up working at the nearby Redstone ranch where there is a second mystery to solve, that of who might have killed a young ranch hand at the Redstone a few days prior.
"Trouble at the Redstone" (2008) has a collection of the usual western characters but all with some hidden traits, good or bad we don't know, and Nesbitt's writing style is good for a short, pocket western. Descriptive yet concise with smart dialogue filling in gaps, a lot of immersive flavor and nice use of his protagonist's POV as we work out the mysteries with Dryden.
Verdict: A really fun single-evening mystery and fun western.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good) movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13
A very good story line with a good amount of action.
The story starts out slow but progresses to a very good storyline. Plenty of intrigue and action. It was hard to guess how the story go which made it a very good western. I will start to read more of this author's books.
Great attention to detail and current events made the story more interesting. I would like to have seen a little more action at times, otherwise, excellent work.
This was the first time I could hear the narrator turn the pages! ;) The narrator's voice was great for reading a western. The story was fast-paced and enjoyable.