Monday, July 11, 2016

Life on a New Mexico Ranch after WWII

In the third book of the Kerney the trilogy, Matt Kerney returns from WWII a hero, but with a serious eye injury. Although glad to be home and trying to heal, Matt is often withdrawn and depressed. This affects his relationship with Anna Lynn Crawford, the woman he loves. When Matt's eye is operated on, it solves many of his emotional problems and reawakens a strong commitment between Matt and Anna, but in the hospital he meets a man from the past who wishes him and by extension Anna and her daughter, Ginny, harm.

Although this is the third book, it's easy to get into. Matt and Anna are strong, well-developed characters that draw you in to their story. The plot is well paced, but sometimes moves hastily from one incident to the next leaving me wanting to know more. The book is well researched. The incidents in the plot are based on historical occurrences in New Mexico. I particularly loved the scenes on the ranch. McGarrity does an outstanding job of making this beautiful area real.

At the end of the book, we come back to Kevin Kerney, Matt's son, to round out the family saga. Although the book is long around 500 pages, the historical context and the interesting characters keep you reading. I recommend this book if you enjoy historical novels, particularly those set in the western United States. It's fascinating to see how much the country has changed something over 200 years.


I received this book from Dutton for this review.

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