This is the fourth story in the MEN OF DEFIANCE series. The characters are so well-drawn that the story grabbed me immediately. Author Elaine Levine doesnt trivialize life in the West. Sterling characters and people of prejudice and cruelty lived amongst whites and Indians alike.
The author brings the horror of this era in American history to light by focusing on one frail victim, Mrs. Sarah Hawkins. Betrayed by her husband, she was kidnapped, abused and continually raped by her Sioux captors. All of this happens before the story opens.
Now, trying to fit back into white society, Sarah becomes a victim of another sort; she is often shunned or marked as an easy woman by the people she meets. One wonders how she had the stamina to survive.
In a happenstance meeting as Sarah boards a stagecoach bound for Cheyenne, she and Logan Taggert (the owner of a string of trading posts), lock eyes. Logan doesnt know her story but senses her terror. He immediately changes his plans and joins the stagecoach group. Something about her tells Logan that he will be sorry if he doesnt take this step.
During the long ride, the other passengers start badgering Sarah to hear her story. Sarah has run away from the Sioux and her Indian chief/warrior husband. The coach is travelling through a contested area and Indians are known to attack farms and coaches. Thus, they demand that Sarah be left along the trail. Logan refuses to leave her and disembarks also.
During her short life, Sarah has been mistreated by every adult male in her life (except her deceased father). Levine does a remarkable job of conveying Sarahs terror and nightmares. Logan assures Sarah that she can trust him; he spends the rest of the book proving that to her.
Sarah is running away from more than Indians. Her white husband was involved in forging land deeds and his partners are out to eliminate her as a threat. Logan is all that stands between her and certain death. The only thing I didnt like about the story was the amazing appearance of friends when there seemed to be no way that Logan and Sarah could survive.
However, this story packs an incredible emotional wallop I could not put it down until the last page.
Men of Defiance
1. Rachel and the Hired Gun (2009)
2. Audrey and the Maverick (2010)
3. Leah and the Bounty Hunter (2011)
4. Logan's Outlaw (2012)
5. Agnes and the Renegade (2014)
The author brings the horror of this era in American history to light by focusing on one frail victim, Mrs. Sarah Hawkins. Betrayed by her husband, she was kidnapped, abused and continually raped by her Sioux captors. All of this happens before the story opens.
Now, trying to fit back into white society, Sarah becomes a victim of another sort; she is often shunned or marked as an easy woman by the people she meets. One wonders how she had the stamina to survive.
In a happenstance meeting as Sarah boards a stagecoach bound for Cheyenne, she and Logan Taggert (the owner of a string of trading posts), lock eyes. Logan doesnt know her story but senses her terror. He immediately changes his plans and joins the stagecoach group. Something about her tells Logan that he will be sorry if he doesnt take this step.
During the long ride, the other passengers start badgering Sarah to hear her story. Sarah has run away from the Sioux and her Indian chief/warrior husband. The coach is travelling through a contested area and Indians are known to attack farms and coaches. Thus, they demand that Sarah be left along the trail. Logan refuses to leave her and disembarks also.
During her short life, Sarah has been mistreated by every adult male in her life (except her deceased father). Levine does a remarkable job of conveying Sarahs terror and nightmares. Logan assures Sarah that she can trust him; he spends the rest of the book proving that to her.
Sarah is running away from more than Indians. Her white husband was involved in forging land deeds and his partners are out to eliminate her as a threat. Logan is all that stands between her and certain death. The only thing I didnt like about the story was the amazing appearance of friends when there seemed to be no way that Logan and Sarah could survive.
However, this story packs an incredible emotional wallop I could not put it down until the last page.
Men of Defiance
1. Rachel and the Hired Gun (2009)
2. Audrey and the Maverick (2010)
3. Leah and the Bounty Hunter (2011)
4. Logan's Outlaw (2012)
5. Agnes and the Renegade (2014)
