KAYE TROUT'S BOOK REVIEWS 1

I specialize in reviewing Print-On-Demand (POD) published books for my website and Midwest Book Review. Please query for a review by email to hgunther234@hotmail.com.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

AVENGING VICTORIO - A Novel of the Apache Insurgency in New Mexico, 1881 by Dave DeWitt

Rio Grande Books,
Los Ranchos de Albuqerque, NM
www.nmsantos.com
Genre: Fiction/SW History
Rating: Excellent
ISBN: 13 9781890689261, $24.95, 261 pp.


Quoting from the back cover:

"A rag-tag group of Apache warriors, led by an elderly man in his late seventies, took on the U.S. army’s Ninth Cavalry in revenge for the death of the great Apache war chief Victorio. Using guerilla warfare, they led raids through New Mexico, slaughtering men, women, and children and evading the Cavalry and the Buffalo Soldiers. In the end, they won!

"Interesting historical characters abound. Billy the Kid was killing people in the southern part of the territory. The New Mexico Territory was governed by Lew Wallace (author of Ben-Hur and territorial governor). Colonel Edward T. Hatch (the chile town of Hatch is named for him) was in charge of the U.S. Army’s Ninth Cavalry. And the great Apache war chief Victorio had been killed by the Mexican Army. After Victorio (a supposed treasure trove is named after him) was killed, the elder war chief Nana led the Apache to victory."

Avenging Victorio is indeed a fast-paced, fascinating, historial novel bound to entertain and educate at the same time. DeWitt’s technique of telling this tale from two perspectives–the Apache’s and the military–provides a truer sense of history and the cultures.

As I live in the four-corners area just north of New Mexico, I personally enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historial, western-type novels.