Day: November 11, 2013
Review of ‘El Paso Way’ by Steven Law
El Paso Way by Steven Law is a different kind of western novel.
Eleven-year-old Enrique Osorio comes home from hunting to find his parents slaughtered and his sister Amelia kidnapped by Valdar, the Demon Warrior. When he’s spotted, he must run for his life, but not before swearing vengeance.
Pang Lo is a young Chinese living in Arizona Territory. He’s engaged to a young Chinese woman, but Valdar intrudes on the engagement dinner, killing Pang’s father and kidnapping his fiancée and his sister. He can expect no help from local white law enforcement, who think of the Chinese as heathens, and in fact jail Pang for having the temerity to press charges. Pang escapes from jail and goes in search of vengeance against Valdar.
When the white sheriff, Dutton, finds a white man who has been brutally killed by Valdar, he is forced to form a posse and go after him.
Three disparate individuals whose lives are entwined by a common quest, in a sweeping tale of adventure, romance, vengeance, and violence, set in the historical backdrop of America’s westward expansion and conflict with the indigenous Apache led by Geronimo, who resent the white man’s encroachment upon their land and customs.
Law is a master story-teller, who has woven a spell-binding tale that will leave you panting for more.
Charles Ray's Ramblings 