The Hart Brand

Fourteen-year-old Caleb Hart is ready to live the American dream when he ventures west to ride the Hart Brand range for his uncompromising uncle, Capt. Frank Hart (even though the Lincoln County War is a dozen years past its political vendettas and wholesale rustling towers over New Mexico). When attorney Col. Albert Fountain disappears after bringing indictments against ranchers suspected of cattle theft, the Hart Brand rides again.

Caleb discovers his sudden opposition to his uncle’s campaign of revenge will either make him a dead renegade or a live hero. Having an oldster reminisce about his years as a teenager when he was thrust into an exciting impasse has been done before. Though an ocean away, Kidnapped and Treasure Island come to mind when reading this Western; Boggs’ tale nearly matches the quality of those written by Stevenson. —William Garwood