American Meteor

Starred review from December 1, 2014
Lock's latest historical reimagining (after the time-traveling Huck Finn novel The Boy in His Winter) follows an orphan from Brooklyn to the Battle of Little Big Horn, where he irrevocably alters history. Listening to the "clamor of my heart," 13-year-old Stephen Moran enlists in the Union Army as a bugler. His time on the battlefield comes to an abrupt end at the Battle of Five Forks, where he loses an eye, kills a Confederate soldier, and receives the Medal of Honor. While recovering, Moran meets Walt Whitman, who gets him assigned as bugler for Lincoln's funeral train to Illinois. Thus begins Moran's lifelong roving of the West, his spiritual restlessness set against the backdrop of westward-driving Americaâa wild, malformed place that's really Moran's primary antagonist. After riding the nascent railroads and apprenticing for photographer William Henry Jackson, Moran ends up as the personal photographer for General Custer, his story culminating in a bloody finale during Custer's Last Stand. The crafty Moran is a perfect everyman: his naïve, directionless unrest gradually cleaves from the irresponsible aggression of Manifest Destiny, for which Custer becomes a figurehead, and focuses into something far more wise, as readers witness. Likewise, Moran's tall tale is a perfect fit for Lock's storytelling: this feels like a campfire tale, an old-fashioned yarn full of rich historical detail about hard-earned lessons and learning to do right.

Narrator Mark Bramhall employs a slightly gravelly tone for world-weary Stephen Moran, who, on his deathbed, recalls the events he witnessed and was party to during the taming of the American West. Bramhall's versatility in voicing dialogue shines as he portrays a diverse group of people across a range of ages and ethnicities. As Moran had a gamut of life experiences--from being a 13-year-old Civil War bugle boy to surviving Custer's Last Stand--Moran crossed paths with many famous individuals who created U.S. history in the late nineteenth century. Bramhall's perfect pacing and understated drama enliven Moran's adventures, evoking the boy's awe of the West, fascination with photography, and horror of the disrespect and greed of some of his fellow countrymen. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine