The Mavericks

MAVERICKS IS A PAGE TURNER IN THE SENSE THAT YOU NEVER WANT IT TO END. THE CHARACTERS ARE MULTI DIMENSIONAL AND THE BOOK FIGHTS STEREOTYPES. BROTHERS HAWK (HALFBREED0 AND ZEKE (HALF BLACK) ARE AS CLOSE AS ANY BROTHERS ADOPTED OR NOT CAN BE. THEY HAD HORRENDOUS CHILDHOODS UNTIL THEY WERE TAKEN IN UNDER THE WINGS OF ADOPTIVE PARENTS OF 11 KIDS. THEY ARE BUILDING A HORSE BREEDING PROGRAQM ON THEIR SMALL RANCH AND ARE TAKING THEIR PRIZED MARES HOME TO FOAL. THEY RUN INTO STRANDED TRAVELLERS LED BY JOSEY (HALF BLACK WOMAN WHO HATES MEN) AND FRENCH CANADIAN JOSETTE WHO WAS A VICTIM OF FAMILY ABUSE. THESE GALS ARE SALOON DANCERS BUT HANDLE A RIFLE AND PISTOL JUST AS WELL AS ANY MAN. FOR VARIOUS REASONS BAD GUYS ARE AFTER THEM AND SO THEY AGREE, RELUCTANTLY, TO TRAVEL TOGETHER.. IT'S A DIFFERENT STORY THAN ANYTHING I'VE EVER READ AND PERHAPS THAT IS WHY I LOVED IT. HOW DO MEN AND WOMEN WITH INGRAINED BIASES LEARN TO WORK TOGETHER TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR GOALS. GREAT DIALOGUE, LOTS OF 'ISSUES', AND JUST PLAIN DELIGHTFUL. INCREDIBLE EVOLUTION OF PEOPLE AND HOW THEY GROW WITH THE HELP OF THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.....GREAT JOB LEIGH.!! YOU ARE ALWAYS ON MY BUY LIST AND THIS ONE IS GREAT.

At the end of the Civil War the Maxwells adopted eleven orphans whom they showered with love and raised to respect others. Though all in this loving brood cherish one another, the two non-white children became best friends. For years, former slave Zeke and half Indian Hawk rode together with neither of them thinking of settling down, but now in their late thirties, they decide to end their wanderlust and raise quality horses to sell to ranchers. As the Maxwell brothers escort mares in foal to their ranch, Josie, a black female, fires at Hawk. Zeke persuades Josie and her dance girl companions Suzette, Anna, and the ailing Laurie to stop shooting. Their wagon lost its linchpin stranding the helpless females until the siblings showed up. When Ben Norman arrives to take Anna with him as his wife, the ladies lose their driver and with the help of the guys take Laurie to her parents' spread. As Suzette and Hawk fall in love over horses, Zeke and Josie fall in love between jabs. However, while in loving denial, they deal with horse thieves, kidnappers, and an idiot sheriff. Leigh Greenwood, known for his terrific western romances, returns to the Cowboys' saddle with a fantastic double love story. The character driven tale lassoes in readers from the moment Josie fires a shot at Hawk and never slows down until the final confrontation between her and Zeke. The story line focuses on the dual romances, but is enhanced by the rustlers and a sheriff who applies racial profiling (Suzette is French Canadian) to decide that the four heroes are liars and thieves. Fans will cherish the return to one of the best sub-genre series. Harriet Klausner