PEPPER TREE RIDER

As the Civil War concludes, soldier Dave Cameron agrees to help the recently widowed Elizabeth Hamilton and her young son safeguard their ranch from a cattle rustler

YA-Masked to conceal his healing wounds, Dave Cameron arrives to help Elizabeth, his dying comrade's wife, run her ranch. He immediately senses trouble, and suspects that Elizabeth's brother is plotting to steal cattle and sell the property without her knowledge. Nine-year-old Danny, Elizabeth's son, grows up quickly, learns how to shoot a gun, and, most importantly, how to judge character. Easy reading and fast paced, this novel will appeal to reluctant YA readers.
Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another western with the same dull tale of an indecisive woman losing the man she loves. Still needing a man to supervise and control her life, she falls for her dead husband's war buddy. Elizabeth was carried away from a life of luxury to live with the man of her dreams. After her husband is killed in the Civil War, she must fend for herself and her young son. Of course, it takes two chapters for the two of them to figure out that Harry isn't coming home. Cameron, indebted to Harry for saving his life during some obscure battle, promises to tend to Elizabeth and the ranch. The bandanna covering his severely deformed face (injured in that same battle) is supposed to make him a figure of fear and intrigue. The ever-present and forever loyal Mexican farmhand, Cisco, just can't handle the ranch work anymore, so Elizabeth invites Cameron to stay. The main plot twist revolves around Elizabeth's spoiled brother, Lance. In order to avoid the war and its devastating effects upon his rich family's plantation, Lance joins Elizabeth in Texas, but he is sickly and useless. Hoping to convince his sister of his worthiness, he conspires with the predictable bad guys from town to rustle cattle. When Lance tries to redeem himself by giving up the scheme, one of his dirty business partners shoots him in the back. It's no surprise when the mysterious Cameron comes to the rescue and kills all the bad guys. Boring stuff, as the characters stick to the ranch, never leaving it except to go to town to trade and shoot a few outlaws- -and as Curtis, in his hardcover debut, sticks to the traditional saga of mysterious man saving desperate woman. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Hamilton and her young son, Danny, await the return of Elizabeth's husband, Harry, from the Civil War. But the rider who comes is not Harry but Dave Cameron, who served with Harry and brings news of his death. The Hamiltons' Texas ranch has worn down without a healthy man to tend it, so Dave stays on to help, despite the reluctance of Elizabeth's sickly, domineering brother, Lance. Curtis, an Emmy nominee for his Gunsmoke screenplays, develops his characters slowly. Dave and Elizabeth are mutually attracted, but she needs time to grieve and he needs time to heal from the war and a hidden, more violent past. A mutual foe--a local rustler--brings the makeshift family closer together but also threatens to reveal Dave's past. The unique twist is that Dave needs Elizabeth to start his life anew more than she needs him to save her ranch. There are times a fast gun just isn't the answer. A subtle western in which regular folks struggle to lead regular lives. Wes Lukowsky