Author: Les Coalson, a Texan writer
Background reading: Sever the Darkness
Setting: Texas Hill Country
Underlying focus: Environmental concerns such as water, unrestricted population growth, zoning, access to recreational sites, private property rights and citizen rights.
Color of Blood is peopled with flesh and blood characters like Clay and Mary Frances who meet and fall in love. We watch Sharkbait Guy and Bert Taylor as they scheme to steal Mary Frances’ Guadalupe Adventures Campgrounds in a land fraud deal. There’s Ranger Ramirez and his search for a murderer on the Guadalupe River. The believable characters arouse our interest and sympathy while the events, characters and their actions flow smoothly – never herky-jerky.
An interesting sidebar is the discovery and excavation of La Salle’s ship, LaBelle, which sank in the Matagorda Bay system in 1686.
Coalson used prodigious research material to substantiate facts and descriptions. Over 30 publications are listed as references.
As a native of West Texas, I found the Hill Country to be the polar opposite of my familiar landscape. The world of bays, rivers, estuaries, ports, lush greenness and the denizens who occupy this world were foreign to me. I was excited to be introduced to cypress trees, colorful buoys and a variety of boats. I cheered the good guys, booed the villains and thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I’ve read Coalson’s first two books; now I look forward to Ransomed Earth.
Get Color of Blood on Amazon!
No comments:
Post a Comment