The Woodcutter


Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
160 Pages
Reviewed on 01/29/2013
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

The author was born a long time ago. He spent three years in the US Army where he learned a lot of vital skills, such as how to use a soldering iron and screwdriver, as well as how to make the bed, mop the floor, and wash dishes. He grew up and spent most of his life in San Francisco. After obtaining a useless liberal arts degree, he became a social worker and did more than 20 years in the mean streets of New York City, San Francisco, and rural California. He is now devoted to writing books, which he should have been doing in the first place. He has written some science fiction and fantasy, but is now mainly interested in tales of the Old West. Some previous publications:
•THE TERRORIST PLOT AT GOPHERVILLE, © 2006, Lulu.com
•GOLD, A TALE OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH, © 2008, ePress Online
•JOURNEY TO RHYOLITE, © 2009, Norlights Press
•CHAPEL PERILOUS, © 2009, Norlights Press.
•THE IMAGINARY EMPEROR, ® 2011, Untreed Reads
•ARIELLA, a heroic tale, © 2011, Dark Gopher Books

All of the above may be viewed on Amazon.com and other on-line retailers.
My personal web site: http://www.chargedbarticle.org/

    Book Review

Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

Set in the late 1880's, "The Woodcutter" by Steve Bartholomew is a fascinating study of the attempts of the US Government to take care of the Native American population. In this story, journalist Dana Reynolds has lost his job in San Francisco and has obtained a job in Virginia City. He hopes to avoid the controversy which cost him his last job but almost as soon as he arrive at his new post, he is assigned a controversial story in Greenfield, Nevada. Dana is to meet a man named Wovoka who is a medicine man but much more. He is also known as the Woodcutter because he is a strong and powerful man. Almost immediately, Dana develops a hunch that the Indian agent in charge of giving US goods to the Indians is taking a more-than-generous cut of both goods and money prior to sending it on to the tribe. The Native Americans also suspect this. They begin to do circle dances, just prior to a solar eclipse and this frightens the agent so much that he attempts to undermine Native American rituals and practices in order to make the Indians "citizens."

Bartholomew develops intriguing characters without advertising. We begin to understand the ways in which the characters think and feel so that we feel we are right there in the story, wanting to cheer on Dana as he attempts to make things right for the Paiute Indians. This is a book which just may catch you by surprise and capture your interest to the very end.