Twin Rivers

Hoping to settle down in a Wyoming valley near the eastern fork of the Twin Rivers, Clay Westbrook finds his plans thwarted when he stands up for Tony Campos, a Mexican immigrant who is being mistreated by an influential landowner

In a western driven more by character than by plot, Nesbitt (One-Eyed Cowboy Wild) takes a look at the modernizing West, where land claims and the encounter between Hispanic and Anglo cultures often turn violent. Stalwart cowpoke Clay Westbrook is looking forward to retirement. He's staked a claim on a few acres in the Wyoming Territory, where he plans to start his own spread. But a wrench is thrown into his idyllic plan when he runs afoul of powerful local land baron Theodore Sutton and his hired thug, Alex Thode, while they're roughing up Tony Campos, an immigrant Mexican shepherd. Unable to stand idly by and watch the unfair fight, Clay intervenes. The run-in sets in motion a complex plot involving an irrigation scheme, a land grab, fraud and corruption. Along the way, Clay falls for and woos Tony's beautiful young niece, Lupita. Nesbitt demonstrates himself a skilled wrangler of detail and character, and, although much of the plot doesn't rise above the level of a formulaic oater, Clay is more than affable and solid enough to retain a partner's loyalty and a reader's attention.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Clay Westbrooke is a young cowpoke with an itch to settle down in Greenfield, Wyoming. He's already staked his claim and intends to work it on the side while he draws regular wages from the Cross Pole Ranch. Then he runs afoul of local land baron Theodore Sutton and is fired after interceding on behalf of Mexican resident Tony Campos. But his act also earns Clay an invitation to Campos' home for dinner, where he meets Tony's niece, Lupita. The relationship develops slowly and decorously until Sutton burns down Clay's cabin and challenges his legal right to the claim. Clay must decide whether to respond violently and risk losing Lupita. This works on three levels: as a tension-filled western, as a very sweet love story, and as a microcosm of the West in transition from big spreads to small ranches. Another excellent work from the author of the acclaimed One-Eyed Cowboy Wild (1995). Wes Lukowsky