Wings of the Hawk

This is the first book from Charles G. West I have read , and he writes an excellent western novel . This is a story of Trace McCall from youth to a man. Trace is 14 years old when his father is killed by indians. Alone in the mountians he is found by two old trappers that teach him how to survive in the mountians. If you like stories about mountian men and their lifes in the mountians you'll love this book .Can'nt wait to read the rest of the series.

Trace McCall has a love relationship with a pretty Shoshoni maiden. Her father does not approve of this relationship and steels her away. The father does not know it but his daughter is with child. She marries a member of the tribe so the child will have a father. She names her son White Eagle. Several years later a renegade band of Sioux raid and kill off most of the Shoshoni people. White Eagle must now wander into the world of the white man looking for his paternal father. Mr. West gives us another great story.

"Wings of the Hawk" is the first book by this author I have read, and I have to start out by saying that this is a well-paced, well thought out book. Mr. West writes an excellent Western novel. The flaws (and admittedly this is a bit of nit-picking) come in some research errors, to wit: The cap-lock rifle, while defintely superior to the flintlock, was not used to any great extent prior to late 1840's. The mountain men hung on to their flintlocks long after the caplock was proven, the main reason being simply that there was no way to resupply yourself with caps if they became wet or lost, but a piece of flint (or a workable substitute) was relativly easy to find...The other problem here is that the hero, Jim Tracy, a.k.a. Trace McCall, ALWAYS wins...and always with little or no problem...As a 14 year old in the beginning of the book, he escapes Indians, "professional" hit men (so to speak), tops a horse trading con man and always without significant problems. Despite this (and I admited I was nit-picking remember)the book is well worth reading...the "downfall" of the rendevous system is acturally pictured, and the future adventures of Trace McCall are eagerly awaited...

This was a wonderful book, with well developed characters. I couldn't put it down. The young herois outstanding, the plot fantastic. Mr. West did an excellent job on this one. I am saving it to read again.

As an avid reader of western books, I have to say Mr. West did a wonderful job with this one. This story of young Trace McCall growing from youth to manhood is epic adventure. This book was very hard to put down, I read this book in two days. I look forward to the next book in this series. If you like to read about the adventures of American mountain men you will love this one.