I have read Jeff Guinn’s non-fiction and found them quite well done and rewarding. Here Guinn tries his hand at telling a true tale of the American West without the trappings of the dime novel exaggerations and gun smoke.

The protagonist, Cash McLendon, grew up with an alcoholic father in St. Louis who didn’t really provide for him. McLendon survives by earning the trust of his employer by being a spy on employees and other business entities and quickly becomes his eyes and ears across city. His employer is a rich but viscous man whose main goal is to take over other people’s businesses through questionable business means, or by intimidation and violence if necessary.

McLendon is not a bad person himself but he falls right into step with his employer and patron because he is intent on surviving and his ability to make friends, listen, and cajole people to do what his boss wants, or get information that can allow his boss to squash them, is how he’s made his way in the world.

McClendon eventually falls in love with Gabrielle, whose father owns a dry goods store. Garbrielle also does good deeds across the community, including teaching people how to read. Over time, McLendon’s boss tries to muscle Gabrielle and her father out of business, and basically forces McLendon to marry his psychotic daughter. In the meantime, Gabrielle and her father flee West to a hardscrabble mining camp called Glorious.

Unfortunately for McLendon, one night when his in-laws are out of town a serious issue comes up with one of his patron’s factories, and while he was told under no circumstances to leave his wife alone, he goes off any way to deal with the issue.

Not to give too much away but some bad things happen and McLendon flees and eventually, because he knows his patron’s deadly enforcer is right on his heels, he decides to head to the town of Glorious to find his lost love Gabrielle. He soon finds himself in a very similar circumstance as before and must eventually take sides.

The set up and unfolding of this novel is extremely well done and the characters and conflict that develops in Glorious are well thought out. The townspeople really come to life, to the key town founders to the gritty miners out to strike it rich. This is a superbly done Western that is quite realistic. It also sets up for the reader to follow Cash McLendon in future novels.

Highly recommended. ( )

Early Reviewer Book. Cash McLendon is running from his former father-in-law and finds himself in Glorious, Arizona. A nothing place that he keeps planning to leave but somehow can’t find the heart to do so. The town is attacked and he decided to fight it out.
Although I am not a huge western fan, I thought this was a good read. The characters are well defined and the plot is interesting. The writing is very descriptive and you can imagine the setting to be well defined. ( )

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that I never wanted to end, but Glorious by Jeff Guinn was exactly that kind of book for me. I was already a fan of this author from reading some of his non-fiction, but this was the first fictional novel of his that I have read and his Old West tale came alive as he told the story of one small Arizona town struggling to stay alive amidst Apache deprivations, unlucky prospectors, domineering ranchers and an assorted crew of lovable losers looking for their second chance.

Although a little slow to get going, the plot of a man fleeing trouble in his past only to find himself in even worse trouble is a classic. The author paints a realistic and colorful picture of the hot, windy and dusty Arizona frontier, and fills the pages with an assortment of worn, tired and rough-hewn characters that bring a sense of authenticity to the story.

The author has an incredible eye for detail and obviously knows how to get his research right. He has used these abilities to produce a western that is entertaining, informative, and colorful. Glorious is the first novel of a trilogy which makes me happy to know that I have more of this unique western story to look forward to. ( )

I have mentioned many times before how much of a fan of Westerns that I am. Thus the reason that I was excited to get a copy of this book back when it was released. However when I started reading it, I was not feeling it as much as I had hopes for. So I stopped reading the book and forgot about it until recently. Thus I picked the book up again to start reading it. I only read a few more chapters before I put the book down but this time for good. There was nothing exciting about it or the people in it. The story seemed to move along slowly and the old world of Arizona was not given much details. Which I was most looking forward to. ( )

This was truly a great read. Part historical novel and part mystery, I was riveted. Western/cowboy novels are not generally my genre, but this was a good book. I think people who love westerns as well as those who prefer mysteries or crime dramas will enjoy reading this book. ( )