Moonshiner's Gold

Moonshiner's Gold is a good adventure story with an interesting plot, but is most suited for middle school age. It is a very fast read and leaves you feeling good about the outcome of the book and life in general. As a high school senior, I found this book to be a little low level for me. I was often bored with the simple words and grammer used. For a fourteen-year-old, however, it would be a great book. Although Moonshiner's Gold is build with an old time western-type plot, it has a modern feel to it. The action is well planned out and it is written well. The book flows from one setting to another making it feel like you are riding along with the main character. Overall, Moonshiner's Gold is a fun, simple book meant for a younger audience, yet still enjoyable for adults.

My daughter is a big Hank the Cowdog fan. I started buying the books on cassette because I couldn't read the things to her out loud because I was laughting too hard. However, after 30+ books they get a little tiring. Now Mr. Erickson has written something with more substance and I must say I'm impressed. I bought this book on audio tape to listen to with my 7 year old daughter in the car. I really enjoyed it and my daughter was instantly hooked by it. Though I would think boys will enjoy it more than girls, my daughter is already requesting that we listen to it again. It is a rousing adventure story with lots of humor. I hope Mr. Erickson is busy writing more books for the older child (and us adults)to enjoy.

I like to be surprised and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this little treasure. I suspect that this book with the un-cool title and pulp-western cover will get overlooked by the publisher, press, and the public. It is a gem of a story to share with your kids or to read for your own enjoyment. Reading it reminded me of the hours I spent with the Hardy Boys as a kid and as a father reading them again to my children. There is only one difference: "Moonshiner's Gold" is really well written. Built on a tried-and-true western plot of "save the family ranch," the author has populated the tale with interesting characters and set it in a time and place balanced on the edge of on the old west and the modern world. The story unfolds in the Texas Panhandle of 1927. The mixture of horses and cars, traditional ranch life and oil boom town society is fascinating. Mr. Erickson combines a ne'er-do-well Grandpa, a widowed mom, an adventurous teen, skulking moonshiners, hidden gold, the Texas Rangers, and skunk-nabbing to weave this entertaining yarn.