THE FLEECING OF FORT GRIFFIN
by
PRESTON LEWIS
Genre: Western Humor
Publisher: Wild Horse Press
Date of Publication: May 19, 2016
Number of Pages: 234
2017 Elmer Kelton Award from the West Texas Historical Association:
Best Creative Work on West Texas
Scroll down for the giveaway!
When the young Englishman Baron Jerome Manchester Paget arrives in 1878 Fort Griffin with a satchel full of money to start a buffalo ranch and find a bride, a horde of colorful swindlers from throughout Texas arrive to help themselves to a rich serving of his naiveté to frontier ways.
With a passel of oddball characters and more twists and turns than a stagecoach trail, The Fleecing of Fort Griffin pits the baron against crooked gamblers, a one-eyed gunfighter, a savvy marshal, conniving females, a duplicitous cavalry officer and a worldly stump preacher.
To stay rich, the baron must stay alive! And to stay alive, the baron must rely on a fourteen-year-old orphan and a rooster that serves as his guard animal. Even so, the odds and the cards are stacked against the Englishman and his bold vision of becoming the baron of bison in West Texas.
Written by Spur Award-winning author Preston Lewis, a master of western plot twists and humor, The Fleecing of Fort Griffin takes readers on an unconventional and uproarious journey through the Old West and some of its unsavory characters.
PRAISE FOR THE FLEECING OF FORT GRIFFIN:
“… a work of colorful and humorous fiction,”
Albany Review
“The Fleecing of Fort Griffin by Preston Lewis of San Angelo is one of the funniest westerns I’ve ever read.”
Glenn Dromgoole, Texas Reads
“If you’re looking for a delightful tale, check out The Fleecing of Fort Griffin.”
Bryan Eagle
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“…but you’ve got to remember
everything’s not always what it seems.”
Swindling is the name of the game, and The Fleecing of Fort Griffin by Preston Lewis certainly has a lot of swindling going on.
If you’re looking for a town full of honest and trustworthy people, you will need to look elsewhere because Fort Griffin is teeming with fakes, swindlers, shameless crooks, a murdering widow looking for her next rich husband, and a Marshall who mostly sits back and watches the shenanigans unfold. I will say that amidst all the ne’er-do-wells and swindlers, one character does have a conscience and a good heart, but I’ll let you find out for yourself who that person is.
Spoilers would be tragic, but be content in knowing that in the words of the Baron Jerome Manchester Paget, “Intellect is as important as weapons in defense.” And the Baron is quite capable of defending himself and his satchel full of money against all the swindlers coming out of the woodwork since his arrival in Fort Griffin. Staying one step ahead of those trying to scam and deceive takes a shrewd mind, careful planning, and a carpetbag full of bravado. The town is mired in illusion, and Preston Lewis takes the reader on a hilarious ride throughout because the illusion and rollicking misdirection never stop until the very end.
What I like most about The Fleecing of Fort Griffin is that every single person wants something and will do anything and everything to get it. Greed comes in many forms and is expressed in both classic and unique ways throughout the entire story. These con artists have the uncanny ability to sniff out any opportunity of a good fleecing. And when they each try to carry out their goal to fleece a seemingly naive Englishman with a pile of money and a guard rooster, well, that’s when the fun begins.
As usual, the author’s storytelling will leave you in stitches, and you will marvel at the thorough and comical development of every single character as well as a most delightfully entertaining plot.
Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Fleecing of Fort Griffin by Preston Lewis.
Preston Lewis is the Spur Award-winning author of 30 western, juvenile and historical novels, including The Fleecing of Fort Griffin, a western caper published by Wild Horse Press. Fleecing won the 2017 Elmer Kelton Award from the West Texas Historical Association (WTHA) for best creative work on West Texas.
Lewis is best known for his comic novels in The Memoirs of H.H. Lomax series. Bluster’s Last Stand, a novel about Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, is the latest volume in the well-received series that began with The Demise of Billy the Kid. Subsequent books in the series—The Redemption of Jesse James and Mix-Up at the O.K. Corral—were both Spur Finalists from Western Writers of America (WWA).
Blood of Texas, Lewis’s historical novel on the Texas Revolution, received WWA’s Spur Award for Best Western Novel. His True West article on the Battle of Yellowhouse Canyon won a Spur Award for Best Nonfiction Article. In addition to his two Spurs from WWA, Lewis has earned three Elmer Kelton Awards from WTHA.
Lewis’s novels have appeared under the imprint of national publishing houses such as Bantam, Zebra and HarperCollins and of regional publishing companies like Eakin Press and Wild Horse Press. His short works have appeared in publications as varied as Louis L’Amour Western Magazine, Persimmon Hill, Dallas Morning News, True West, The Roundup, Journal of the Wild West History Association and San Angelo Standard-Times.
A native West Texan and current San Angelo resident, Lewis holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Baylor and Ohio State universities. He earned a second master’s degree in history from Angelo State University. He is a past president of WWA and WTHA. Lewis is a longstanding member of the Authors Guild and an associate member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
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║Amazon Author Page║
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
1ST PRIZE: Signed Copy of The Fleecing of Fort Griffin
+ Choice of Any One Book from the H.H. Lomax Series
2ND PRIZE: Signed Copy of The Fleecing of Fort Griffin
MARCH 20-29, 2018
(US ONLY; email addresses collected will be used by author for distribution list)
VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
| 3/20/18 | Excerpt 1 | Chapter Break Book Blog |
| 3/21/18 | Review | Hall Ways Blog |
| 3/22/18 | Author Interview | Book Fidelity |
| 3/23/18 | Review | Missus Gonzo |
| 3/24/18 | Excerpt 2 | The Love of a Bibliophile |
| 3/25/18 | Author Interview | StoreyBook Reviews |
| 3/26/18 | Review | Reading by Moonlight |
| 3/27/18 | Excerpt 3 | Books and Broomsticks |
| 3/28/18 | Scrapbook Page | A Page Before Bedtime |
| 3/29/18 | Review | Forgotten Winds |
