Matt
was only a boy when Indians killed his parents and kidnapped
his three-year-old sister. Blaming himself for the tragedy,
Matt sets out on a journey of the heart to find little Mandy.
He doesn’t get far, however, before he’s “bound” to
a cruel and brutal inn keeper. Sick and barely alive, he’s
rescued by a kindly old man who takes him in and teaches
him the rudiments of survival in the wilderness.
But Matt’s time with Noah is too short-lived. When
the vengeful inn keeper guns Noah down, Matt commits murder
as well. On the run now, and still seeking his sister, Matt
heads into Can-tuc-kee and the Cherokee Indian Territory.
His plan, as a long hunter, is to amass enough skins to buy
some land and make a home for him and Mandy. Once again, however,
Matt’s plans go awry.
Captured by Indians,
the young man once again finds himself “bound”.
He watches his best friend die a hideous death at the stake.
And he learns a great deal more about survival. Escaping the
Indians at last, he helps fellow Virginians settle the rugged,
majestic land he has come to love. Ultimately, he learns what “home” really
is … and where it resides.
|
"The
Long Hunter is
a fabulous insightful historical thriller that showcases
some of abuses of colonial
society. The story line focuses on the adventures of Matt
as he tries to survive under laws that offer no protection
towards the young similar to Charles Dickens’s complaints
about Victorian living conditions for the poor and disenfranchised.
The support cast though somewhat stereotyped augment the enlightening
look back in time. The final twist seems so plausible that
it enhances the entire novel adding to the realism of a well
written late eighteenth century America."
~ H. Klausner, Independent Reviewer
"McNair
writes a suspenseful and adventurous historical novel..."
~ Carol Anne Germain
|
