Flint's Truth

May 4, 1998
Although it boasts a tighter plot than its prequel (Flint's Gift, 1997), the second volume in Wheeler's trilogy about frontier newspaperman Sam Flint suffers, like the first, from a weak, unbelievable ending. Flint's curiosity, integrity and stubbornness are rarely appreciated by local politicos, and in his life he's often had to bug out of town in a hurry before the tar-and-feather boys showed up. In this tale, set in 1870, Flint sets up shop editing The Nugget in Oro Blanco, N.Mex., a gold-mining boomtown divided between greedy Yankees and poor, struggling Mexicans. Poking around for stories, honest Flint smells a rat--a conspiracy involving everyone from the mine owners to the saloonkeepers and the town marshall. Meanwhile, the villainous gringos who first welcomed The Nugget get worried as Flint begins to report the illegal activities of some unsavory town officials, and soon the baddies decide Flint has to go. A violent and unexpected murder lights the fuse for the final showdown, but the conclusion fizzles out with nary a sputter.

The second entry in Wheeler's Western triology finds frontier journalist Sam Flint setting up his print shop in Oro Blanco, New Mexico. Narrator Cullen is challenged by the variety of characters that have ended up in this out-of-the-way spot--Irish and Cornish miners, a proper Bostonian lady, a Texas lawman and numerous Hispanics. Cullen handles the accents with aplomb and differentiates genders without strain. Though not a spellbinding story, the details and attitudes of the period are authentically presented. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine