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The Pumpkin Rollers
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25 new or used available from CDN$ 0.01
Average customer review:
(5 )
Product Description
When Trey McLean leaves his family's East Texas cotton farm and sets off on his own to learn the cattleman's trade, he's about as green as they come. But Trey learns fast. He learns about deceit when a con man cheats him out of his grubstake and about love when he meets the woman he's destined to marry.
And when luck finally sets him on a cattle drive to Kansas, Trey learns the trade from veteran drover Ivan Kerbow, but he also learns the code of violence and death from outlaw Jarrett Longacre, a man who will plague his life at every turn.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1753204 in Books
- Published on: 1997-04-15
- Released on: 2005-02-24
- Original language: English
- Dimensions: .83" h x 4.12" w x 6.78" l, .32 pounds
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 304 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Six-time Golden Spur winner Kelton (The Far Canyon, etc.) produces westerns that are far from routine oaters, and this new novel set in post-Civil War Texas is high-quality fare. Pumpkin rollers such as Kelton's new hero, Trey McLean, are farmboys-turned-cowpokes who don't yet know one end of a steer from the other. When the "War of Northern Aggression" ends and his brother returns from fighting the despised Yankees, Trey leaves the suddenly crowded East Texas homestead and heads west with $17 in his pocket. After losing his money to a sharpie, the green youth reaches the cowtown of Fort Worth. There, he gets a job as a drover, meets his future love and learns the herding trade from a grizzled old-timer. The requisite violence of the genre is provided by marauding Comanches and gunman Jarrett Longacre, who pops up in Trey's life with uneasy regularity. Trey eventually becomes a pro drover, marries Sarah and watches the cycle of life on the range begin again. Though not Kelton's best, with its colorful argot, lively period detail and manly action, this novel will no doubt be corralled by a passel of western fans.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Kelton (The Far Canyon, LJ 8/94) has won enough Golden Spur awards to outfit an entire posse. In this latest, a young Texan makes his mark as a cattleman.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Trey McLean is a little young to leave his parents' east Texas farm--he's 18--but he's ready to live his dream of becoming a cattleman. On his way west, however, his little four-cow herd is stolen by a crooked sheriff. More troubles follow, as Trey runs afoul and also meets young Sarah Stark, a comely rancher's daughter with whom he will eventually fall in love. This is a coming-of-age tale, western style, and veteran genre-master Kelton handles the theme well. The key characters are all carefully and believably rendered; no one steps out of character yet none responds with a cliche. Trey McLean will stay with readers awhile. It's a pleasure to share the heady sense of freedom he feels as he leaves home and to empathize as the numerous setbacks slow his progress but never destroy his resolve. And when he makes his ultimate decision regarding his life and Sarah, it's born out of a newfound maturity coupled with his dreams. Fine reading. Wes Lukowsky
