William Altimari

Fascinating study of the leopard as set against the background of a 1905 hunt for an African man-eater. It has killed several villagers already. Captain Rixton takes under his wing a young journalist, Jon Stratton, and plans to take the young man with him on this hunt. They plan their trip, travel there, and finally confront the leopard. They also meet an Afrikaner widow, whose pet black leopard has disappeared and she's terrified unless it is killed in error.

The novel gave detailed description of a leopard's behavior and, indeed its essence. The novel was a clever way of learning a bit of natural history, cloaked in an exciting story.

Highly recommended.… (mer)

I liked the author's Roman-themed book so much, I decided to read some of his other non-Roman novels. Westerns per se are not my favorites, but I took a chance on this one and am glad I did. Set in 19th century Arizona, a few years after the Civil War, this concerns several ranchers: a widow, Kathy and her daughter, Colleen; two other ranchers with land adjoining theirs; a mysterious Mexican bandit, Mateo Maduro, who is not what he appears; and various other townspeople of the village of San Miguel. One rancher wants to buy up all the land around him, ostensibly for water rights and hires several unscrupulous toughs to intimidate people. Add in a Mexican treasure of silver, which has disappeared, and you have a volatile mix. The story begins with Mateo buying Colleen a horse, which she has desired -- the two are strangers, and it takes off from there. A family secret is revealed in the course of the story.

I found this book exciting, with well-developed characters. The author knows how to describe realistic emotions and reactions. The writing was vivid; I could see the scenes before me and the author conveyed the flavor of old Arizona. The final shoot-out, in the rain, yet, was especially heart-stopping. The dynamic between Mateo and Colleen reminded me somewhat of that between the centurion and the young Sequani girl in the author's Roman books. Dialogue was sharp and crisp.

Highly recommended.… (mer)

My rating is closer to 3.5. This novel was not as good as Legion by the same author. These are the further adventures of Centurion Rufio, Tribune Crus, the 2nd Cohort of the XXV Legion. On this outing, they and Flavia, Rufio's sweetheart, are sent to Judaea to have a Roman presence in the area near the Salt Sea to deter Nabataean bandits and to deter Parthians. On the way there, they fight pirates at sea. Much of the novel is taken up with buying and training horses and training these foot soldiers as cavalrymen. There is also a Judaean army contingent involved. There must be other Roman novels that emphasize cavalry training, but this is the first one I've read. The soldiers also must deal with camels. The climactic set-piece battle between Romans and Judaeans against Parthians was quite exciting, based on Rufio's reading of Sargon II of Assyria's battle against Rusa of Urartu, centuries before Alexander.

I enjoyed these parts. The characters were unforgettable--idealized Romans, but who cares? Some bits of fantasy enter the story after discussion of centaurs, especially Chiron. Some parts struck me as too saccharine or sentimental, hence my lowered rating.… (mer)