REVIEWS AND QUOTES REGARDING STAN LYNDE NOVELS IN THE

MERLIN FANSHAW WESTERN MYSTERY SERIES

 

 

THE BODACIOUS KID

 

"From the first word Lynde promises a good story, and he delivers it with flair. I couldn't put the book down, and when I finished I was longing for more. 'The Bodacious Kid' is Bodacious indeed.'"

                                                --Tad Brooks, the MISSOULIAN

 

"...Stan Lynde has burst forth as a Western novelist of a high order. The Bodacious Kid is what John Ford would have called 'a cracking good yarn,' with enough hairs-breadth suspense, tangled destinies, surprising loyalties and astonishing betrayals...to suit the most demanding devotee of adventurous fiction."

 

            --Michael H. Price, Fort Worth Star Telegram/New York Times News Service

 

"Stan Lynde is a master of imagery. His characters have depth and breadth; he's talented with the metaphor and uses dialogue that is both colorful and real...the plotting displays substance and imagination. What else is needed for first-class western fiction? Nothing."

 

            --Roland Cheek, Author, Syndicated newspaper columnist, radio show host, and

                                                                        Long-time wilderness outfitter

 

CARELESS CREEK

 

"Lynde draws the entertaining and earthy folks in Careless Creek with a sure and practiced hand. (His) settings are marvelously done, perfect backdrops for Fanshaw's sense of propriety and innocence. Whether the Montana sun is high and hot or the fearless duo crouches under slickers in the pouring rain, this is Montana air, and the reader inhales."

 

            --M.J. Van Deventer, National Cowboy Hall of Fame

 

"Lynde is at his story-telling best in Careless Creek. His particular brand of humor-laced adventure is perfectly showcased in the dry wit and country wisdom of his young protagonist."

                        --Joe Gulick, Lubbock Avalanche Journal

 

"My admiration for Stan Lynde's work is a matter of public record. He is a longtime student of history and an astute observer of the unique characteristics that help identify the American West."

 

                        --Marc Racicot, Governor of Montana (1998)

 

SAVING MISS JULIE

 

"There simply cannot be a writer better trained by environment and experience to draft western fiction. Stan Lynde is a master of imagery."

 

--Laurence Delaney, bestselling author of Blood Red Wine and The Triton Ultimatum

 

 

MARSHAL OF MEDICINE LODGE

 

"A particularly rewarding novel written by one of the finest Western novelists of our times. Stan Lynde's novels are laced with wry humor, thoughts on the art of living and growing, toughness and tenderness, and the keenest understanding of human nature I've ever seen in fiction."

 

--Richard S. Wheeler, multiple SPUR Award winner and recipient of the 2001 Owen Wister Award

 

"Lynde's pleasant, genuine narration, tinged with both wit and grit, carries the narrative; the authenticity, country humor, and vibrant characters all make for a warmly entertaining read. Satisfying Western fare, in the vein of Louis L'Amour."

 

--Kirkus Discovery Reviews

 

"Humorous, fast-paced, and full of action. Sharp as a Bowie knife."

 

--Roundup Magazine

 

SUMMER SNOW

 

"Merlin Fanshaw has been around long enough—five generously entertaining novels and counting—that he is beginning to seem like an old friend, one who brings an engrossing tale with each new visit. The greater story here is that Merlin has grown with his times, learning from each triumph and each new run-in with trouble, and is developing those deepening marks of road-wear, resourcefulness and resilience that are essential to a richness of character."

 

--Michael H. Price, The Business Press, Fort Worth

 

"I always enjoy Lynde's U. S. Deputy Marshal Fanshaw Westerns for their humor and sense of place, as well as the excellent characterizations and plots. Summer Snow is no exception. In fact, this volume in Lynde's series might be the best one yet. This is a wonderful read from a man with an imagination who knows how to tell a story."

 

--Doris Meredith

Roundup Magazine

 

VENDETTA CANYON

 

"Lynde's tales never fail the reader...Even people who normally shy away from Westerns will enjoy the action and the writing in Lynde's work and will eagerly await Fanshaw's next assignment."

 

--Chris Rubich

The Billings Gazette

 

"If you've read Stan Lynde before, you'll be acquainted with his folksy style, his humor, and his terrific characters...Fortunately, this is not the first of the Deputy U.S. Marshal Merlin Fanshaw stories. If they're all as fun as this one, you'll be ready to read another as soon as you finish Vendetta Canyon."

 

--C.K. Crigger

Roundup Magazine

 

TO KILL A COPPER KING

 

"...Spur Award winner Stan Lynde explores many aspects of seeing in To Kill a Copper King, the seventh book in his Merlin Fanshaw Western Mystery series. The idea of reality masked plays out on many levels, from physical blindness to the search for insight into the criminal mind, especially of cagy killer-for-hire "Charon." (Lynde) uses Butte's dramatic past in rich descriptions of a boom town weighed down by its very air, with mornings dawning dingy with smelter smoke and accented by the staccato striking of the stamping machines.

 

"Lynde's unlikely hero continues to appeal, and the writer sees clearly how to take best advantage of the era, the setting, and plot twists that set the series apart."

 

--Chris Rubich, The Billings Gazette

 

"...The author's attention to detail and thorough research of the many topics he incorporates into the novel give plausible life to the complex plot and its surprising conclusion. The story is nicely seasoned with touches of romance, colorful characters, and Fanshaw's dry sense of humor."

 

--Judy Shafter, State of the Arts

 

 AND, FROM LYNDE'S HISTORICAL NOVEL, VIGILANTE MOON:

 

"Vigilante Moon, a story of love and courage and sacrifice set in early Montana, has won a place on my bookshelf among my favorite novels. Stan Lynde is not only a great storyteller but a master of the historical west. He brings to this work a lifetime of research, a love of the high and wild world untouched by civilization, an artist's vision, and a poet's gift of words."

                                                --Richard S. Wheeler

 

"Vigilante Moon is a terrific western, and Will Hunter is a classic western hero in the Clint Eastwood mold. From Hunter's confrontation with a bloodthirsty Bushwhacker that begins the story to the final deadly gunfight that decides his destiny, this is a hell of a story. Don't start reading it unless you've got all night."

 

        --Jim Donovan, author of Custer: The Man, the Mystery, and the Myth

 

"Stan Lynde has given us a fine novel, Vigilante Moon. It's laid in the largely unknown stretches of expanding western lands as the Civil War is drawing to a close and new vistas are opening, putting Indians, settlers, and bad men in dangerous conflict with each other. Vigilante Moon isn't a book you'll put down quickly, or soon forget."

 

         --Charlton Heston