The Pumpkin Rollers

PUMPKIN ROLLERS follows Trey McLean, an innocent farm boy from east Texas, as he sets out from his home to make it on his own. Along the way, Trey's courage and integrity are tested as he encounters outlaws, gunmen, shady women, and a bounty hunter on a mission from God. The story is romantic and exciting, with Trey losing his cattle to a crooked rancher and becoming a stable boy, a cowboy, and finally, a husband and a rancher in his own right. George Guidall's gentle storytelling helps make this beautiful coming-of-age story even more alive. Highlighted by with Kelton's ability to create authentic and morally complex characters, PUMPKIN ROLLERS will restore anyone's faith that the Western is alive and well. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

March 4, 1996
Six-time Golden Spur winner Kelton (The Far Canyon, etc.) produces westerns that are far from routine oaters, and this new novel set in post-Civil War Texas is high-quality fare. Pumpkin rollers such as Kelton's new hero, Trey McLean, are farmboys-turned-cowpokes who don't yet know one end of a steer from the other. When the "War of Northern Aggression" ends and his brother returns from fighting the despised Yankees, Trey leaves the suddenly crowded East Texas homestead and heads west with $17 in his pocket. After losing his money to a sharpie, the green youth reaches the cowtown of Fort Worth. There, he gets a job as a drover, meets his future love and learns the herding trade from a grizzled old-timer. The requisite violence of the genre is provided by marauding Comanches and gunman Jarrett Longacre, who pops up in Trey's life with uneasy regularity. Trey eventually becomes a pro drover, marries Sarah and watches the cycle of life on the range begin again. Though not Kelton's best, with its colorful argot, lively period detail and manly action, this novel will no doubt be corralled by a passel of western fans.