Fun, entertaining, gripping. Plus horses, guns, cabins and runaways. A good read. ( )

Described in the blurb as "part literary Western and part historical mystery", Ridgerunner was a finalist for the 2020 Giller Prize, and my pick for winner of that prestigious award.

Set in late 1917 in western Canada and Montana, it focuses on 12-year-old Jack Boulton whose father is the infamous ridgerunner, a notorious thief. This a great story with lots of history and humour. I marvelled at the contrast between the wilderness (and wildness) in western Canada while the rest of North America was occupied with the war in Europe.

Read this even if you aren't a fan of westerns. You won't regret it. ( )

Gil Adamson's RIDGERUNNER is a very good book - beautiful writing, interesting characters with depth and backstories. I was caught up in these unusual lives - a lapsed, deeply disturbed and dangerous nun; a former U.S. Marshal/bounty hunter from the Oklahoma territory, now an old gunsmith/hermit; and of course the principals: the Ridgerunner himself, the eccentric William Moreland, first introduced in Adamson's previous book, OUTLANDER; his consort Mary Boulton, myterious heroine of that earlier book; and their son, Jack Boulton, just entering puberty. The setting is the high Rockies of Alberta, in and around the town of Banff in the years of the Great War. Most of the young men are gone. There is an internment camp near town, filed with "enemy aliens," Canadian emigrants from the enemy countries, mostly Ukrainians, who were rounded up and imprisoned the same way the U.S. interned Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. The plot concerns the future and welfare of the boy, Jack, whose father has disappeared on one of his many wanderings.

So, beautiful language, fascinating characters, okay? The problem - and it's a minor one really, because of those first two things - is that there's not a whole lot happening, not a lot of forward momentum in the story for the first 300 pages or so. It's all backstories and character development. Which is not all bad. I'm all for character-centered books. And it's all redeemed by the last hundred pages, when things really get rolling with the introduction of a vicious camp guard who comes after Jack, and what happens next. And whoo! Things suddenly start happening very quickly. Violence, very intense. Pages turn faster and faster. Followed by a great denouement and Epilogue. Making it all worth the journey. This Gil [Gillian] Adamson is one hell of a writer. Start with OUTLANDER, then read this one. Very, very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

I've been wanting to read this sequel to The Outlander for awhile, and when it was nominated for the short list for the Giller prize, i really was excited to begin This book picks up where The Outlander left off. William Moreland has just lost his wife and almost his son to a mysterious illness. He has left Jack with the nun who had saved his life, and he sets out to revive his Ridgerunner legend. He has it in his head that he needs $20,000 in order to set Jack up so that he will have choices in his life. Jack is only 12 years old, but Moreland is determined that this has to be done immediately. He goes through Montana and Idaho robbing ranger stations and remote outposts, and then works his way back home. Home is in Alberta in the wilderness close to Banff. He intends to reunite with his son when his mission is accomplished. Jack isn't fairing well with the nun. He is not happy at school, he misses his parents, and he feels like a square peg in a round hole. Not only that, but there seems to be something off with the nun, and he is very unhappy there. His escape back to his remote home sets off a chain of events that will dog his and his father's steps forever. This was a totally wonderful reading experience. The time is 1917 and the war is still raging in Europe, but that seems far away from Banff. The countryside is just the same-- the mountains are just as beautiful; and Jack is happy to be out and away from the nun. This is a coming-of-age story like no other. It's a survival story like no other.as well. The length of time that Gil Adamson takes to write a novel shows in the perfection of her writing Every word is carefully chosen and every plot sequence is beautifully crafted. I'm so glad that Ms. Adamson took the time to finish the story about the Moreland family. ( )

Started slowly and for me somewhat aimless but I started to like the locale and the period - Montana and Alberta in WWII and it came alive in thwe second half. The end was good, wisfful, and a little epic'ish - sort of poor m,an's McCarthy - and did end in Texas too! ( )