What the Dead Men Say

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In August 1898, Septemus Ryan is beside himself with grief after his young daughter is killed during a bank robbery. So when his sixteen-year-old nephew, James Hogan, celebrates his birthday by accompanying Uncle Septemus on a trip, it soon becomes apparent to James that Septemus has other plans than visiting the agricultural fair. James witnesses his uncle become darker and darker with anguish and despondency, until finally, Septemus kills the one of his daughter's murderers. Now James and Septemus not only have the two other murderers on their tail, but Sheriff Dodds as well. Genre: hard-boiled/western. *** From Publishers Weekly This slight, sorry western begins in 1901, when Septemus Ryan takes his 15-year-old nephew, James, on a combined coming-of-age and revenge trip. Septemus has tracked down the three men who killed his daughter, James's favorite cousin, during a bungled bank robbery. He has come to the town of Myles to kill the trio and to teach James, whom he considers a mama's boy, "about manly things." Arriving in Myles, Septemus is recognized by the sheriff, who warns him against vigilantism. That evening James is treated to a Penthouse-meets-Boy's Life episode with a prostitute. Septemus kills one of the bank robbers, then kidnaps another whom he ties up in a lonely cabin, telling his young charge to do his duty by his dead cousin. James can't shoot the man, but Septemus, a raving lunatic by this point, can and does. James and the sheriff try to catch him before he kills again and, in a predictable climax, the youth-according to Gorman's (Death Ground) muddled sense of maturity-becomes a man. The only positive aspect of this lackluster effort is its brevity. *** From Library Journal In August of 1901 16-year-old James Hogan accompanies his Uncle Septemus Ryan, ostensibly to travel to the Iowa State Fair. Along the way, the two stop at a town where Septemus plans to avenge his daughter, killed three years earlier in a bungled bank robbery in Council Bluffs. Septemus drags the fatherless James along to "start teaching you about manly things," including, to Septemus's grief-maddened way of thinking, revenge. Gorman has written a gritty tale of a boy's coming of age. Memorable characters and the author's detailed knowledge of the locale make the story believable. Desperadoes really did roam Iowa (e.g., Jesse James and his gang). Highly recommended to public libraries.