Shavetail

Written by Thomas Cobb

Narrated by Tom Stechschulte

Thomas Cobb's second novel is a "thoughtful Western" (Publishers Weekly) based on the actual events of the Camp Grant massacre. The year is 1871, and a 17-year-old runaway named Ned Thorne has just joined Captain Robert Franklin at the Camp Grant outpost located at the edge of Arizona's Chiricahua mountains. When a nearby farmhouse is raided and a woman kidnapped by renegade Apaches, the men's mettle is severely tested as they confront the brutality of life in the West.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449843809

Thomas Cobb

Thomas Cobb is the author of Crazy Heart, which was adapted into a 2009 Academy Award-winning film starring Jeff Bridges, and Shavetail, among other books. He grew up in southern Arizona and now lives in Rhode Island with his wife.

Reviews for Shavetail

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Shavetail by Thomas Cobb is a character study of three men who serve at the remote outpost of Camp Ramsey in southern Arizona in the year 1871. Ned Thorne is a young, seventeen year old runaway, and as a new recruit he is ill prepared for life in the army. Both Captain Robert Franklin and Lieutenant Tony Austin are veterans whose posting here is perceived as a punishment from General Crook for past mistakes. Franklin is desperate for redemption, while the more introspective Austin ponders life and nature.Although the local Chiricahua Apaches are staying peaceful, another band, fleeing from a betrayal, have attacked a small ranch, and it is believed that a woman has been taken. A patrol is formed and sets out to ascertain where these Apache are, as a full rescue mission cannot be undertaken until they have the permission of General Crook. The tension mounts as time passes and this permission is not forthcoming. Eventually, something happens to goad the troopers of Camp Ramsey into heading out into the unforgiving desert to save this woman. Shavetail is far from an action driven western. This is a thoughtful, descriptive piece of writing that is far more character-driven than plot-driven. The landscape of southern Arizona is realistically painted, and we can smell the juniper and mesquite, feel the burning sun and sense the dust clogging the pores. The hard life of a soldier is laid out for us to examine and Cobb does not shy away from showing the base nature of men.Both the subject matter and the writing brought Robert Olmstead’s Far Bright Star to mind with both authors being particularly strong with the dialogue. Swinging from harsh realism to the poetically beautiful, Shavetail was an absorbing read that I will long remember.

[jburlinson_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a revenant of the "western" genre, but an example of its offspring -- the "historical novel" set in the American west. A coming-of-age novel, recirculating a number of standard themes: Indian captivity, dishonored army officers seeking redemption, etc. These are offset by some original touches: an officer struggling with clinical depression, an isolated ranch wife addicted to pica, and simmering homophilia amongst the troops. The characters do a fair amount of writing of their own (letters home, diaries, journals), and I think Cobb has captured well the somewhat stilted language used by people of that era in their correspondence, as opposed to their spoken language, which he also renders effectively. However, he is not at his best describing action; it's often difficult for the reader to achieve a clear picture of the various ambushes, flash floods, treacherous mountain crossings, etc. Overall, a worthy effort, though.