Book Review A Cowboy's Destiny

 

E. Joe Brown's debut book of the Kelly Can Saga 1 "A Cowboy's Destiny" is a coming-of-age novel about a young man, Charlie Kelly, who navigates his way through his teenage and early adult years on the Western frontier in the early 20th century. The novel has all the elements of the Western genre with life on a cattle ranch, stampedes, rustlers, hot tempers, and oil strikes. What sets this novel apart from the majority of the classic Westerns is that it covers the Western front where industry and technology are beginning to emerge, revolutionizing the cowboy way of life. The chapters are structured in chronological order from July 1913 through February 1919.

The story begins in 1917 with the reader meeting Charlie Kelly working on a large ranch in New Mexico with his family. Life is proving frustrating for him and he's become tired of fixing everyone's problems, especially the ones his father creates. A confrontation in Fort Sumner forces the Kelly family to move again. Charlie finds this move an opportunity to begin a life on his own. He has high aspirations to be a top ranch hand at Miller's 101 Ranch in Oklahoma. But he finds the road to get there proves to be not an easy one. Some of his plans face major conflicts forcing him to make tough decisions as he struggles to fulfill his destiny. A curve ball that took him by surprise was falling in love with a married woman, Susan, who captures his heart. With various jobs on different ranches, Charlie quickly earns his nickname “Kelly Can.” He seems to be able to overcome insurmountable challenges with quick thinking and competency, handling a variety of emergencies. Charlie demonstrates he has enough backbone to get tough jobs done. Education proves to be an invaluable asset for him as one dream snowballs into an even bigger dream.

Brown has a simplistic style in his writing. He writes direct and straightforwardly with a clear structure, a clear sense of time, place, and selective details. The characters' experiences are realistic as well as their feelings. As problems surface, Brown chooses to have the main characters provide resolution rather than waiting until the end of the story to tie up all the details. Readers will find the ending satisfactory and also will find themselves “hooked” for part two eager to see where the lives of Susan and Charlie will take them.

The story is easy to read and is an impressive effort on Brown's part for a debut novel. 

   ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR

E. Joe Brown

E. Joe Brown has published three memoirs and his writing has been included in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He's a member of Southwest Writers, International Western Music Association, Western Writers of America, and president of New Mexico Westerners. He's served as a New Mexico State Music Commissioner and on the International Western Music Association Board of Directors where he's influenced the culture of New Mexico and the Southwest through music, poetry, literature, and education. He is a proud retiree of the USAF. Joe lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico with his wife.