|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
BLOOD MOUNTAIN presents an accurate portrayal of railroad life, or at least an accurate portrayal according to the genre of Western novels. The United States is trying to complete the Central Pacific railroad and this has created tension between the railroad/ steel tycoons. Two steel companies hire Simon Striker to “delay” construction of the rails. If he can delay the completion of the rails for several months, he will have a small fortune on which to retire. The easiest way to accomplish his goal is to use racial tensions to his advantage. The most efficient way is to cause landslides and other acts of sabotage that forces long delays, as the crews must rebuild. The lost of human life due to these acts do not concern Striker; the big picture, i.e. his money to the only important outcome. Two men form an alliance to protect the workers, an Irishman who is a boss one of the crews and a Chinese fighter, who does not want to see anyone else die. As they race to track down their saboteur, Striker’s continued attacks escalate until it seems impossible to finish the railroad on time. BLOOD MOUNTAIN reads like a true Western. These characteristics include: the whores and helpless women, it has the saloons, the racial prejudices, the violence and the true “rough-and-tumble” hero to triumph over oppression. And lets not forget, the villain kidnapping the hero’s girl, who in this case is an exotic Chinese beauty. Stereotypically, a Western tends to be a book that appeals primarily to manly men and this one fit that stereotype. Unlike a number of Western where the objective is to fight dirty Indians (or fill in with an appropriate bad guy), this book had a message of good guys being any ethnicity. The hero is an Irishman but his “handy side kick” is Chinese. And unlike some sidekicks, he is treated as an almost equal. To top this almost PC approach, the bad guy is not a “dirty Indian” or other oppressor of “decent folk.” Although the message at the very heart of the book was appealing, the rest of the book was fluff and lacked depth. For a Western, the book was good. For those who are a fan of Westerns, this book would satisfy any possible craving you could have; however, if you have not read Westerns before, this is not the book with which to start.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, March 2003
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
