100 Books - #5 - "Mired In The Deep"

Our review today is on the book named, "Mired In The Deep" written by author Ezekiel Lansing.

Synopsis
Laramie Station is the back drop for this wayward western. Set sometime in the late 1800s, the story follows a young cowboy, Jim Apple, with aspirations of becoming a big time rancher. But finding the land, buying the land, and getting cattle legally becomes very complicated.

His first plan is to woo the daughter (Annabelle Carson) of a wealthy rancher and get her to marry him. Which doesn't work as she has plans of her own on another man named Lou Estes. Turns out Lou is stealing cattle from everyone in the area.

So Apple tries another tactic by becoming a deputy. His long term plans haven't changed; he schemes to continue the pursuit of the young lady, Annabelle. Apple doesn't trust Lou and he watches him closely. His suspicions are right as he follows him to a place off in the canyons where he is hiding all the cows. And, typical of the old west dramas, he gets caught.

There is no Lone Ranger in this episode, so he suffers greatly. But, of course, he doesn't die.

His survival, however, is dependent upon the happenstance of an old, abandoned cabin with a (believe or or not) still operating water well. So days go by and Jim recovers miraculously. He rides into town with the information he has gained, head up, to his boss, the sheriff.

In the street, he finds Estes trying to "take charge" of the lovely heroine. She has seen the error of her way and the show down happens.

Review
Of course author Lansing tells the story well and has your imagination in the right place. He's really not a bad writer. What he lacks in originality, he makes up for in description, pulling the reader into the story. However, he seems to lose his own place between attempting his hand at the L'Amour western epic and the Grey detail overload. Still, I have loved western tales since I was a boy and I enjoyed this one. Very predictable, but a wonderful journey.

This book is not in print.

For more information on 100 Books, click here.