The Vanishing Raiders

Fred Grove is one of the masters of Western fiction, his writing having won five(!) Spur Awards over the years. This book draws together nine Grove short stories and everyone is a winner. Grove's stories, whether they deal with a cavalry officer learning to trust his Kiowa scout, a town under the thumb of a psychotic marshal or a 'lady of the evening' having her quiet revenge on a boorish client, ring true. The characters' actions, their mindset mirror the old West. The stories owe much to the author's own background. A westerner himself, he grew up in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. His father was an old-time cowpoke; his mother a Sioux Indian. Native Americans figure in several of these stories and they are portrayed sympathetically and honestly. There's action-aplenty in these stories but the characters are always paramount. If you've never read any of Fred Grove's work, pick up a copy of this book. It's an excellent sampler that amply displays his writing talents along with his love of the West.