Review: Novel Highlights Account of U.S. Intervention into War For Oil--100 Years Ago!

The Creed of Violence
By Boston Teran
Counterpoint Press
ISBN: 9781582435251
245 Pages


I love unusual and The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran is unusual for various reasons. One is that the two main characters are father and son; however, the father does not know that the younger man is his son until close to the end of the book. The author emphasizes the relationship over and over by often eliminating the use of their names, choosing instead to refer to them as “the father” or “the son.” For this reader, it forced me to look more closely at their dialogue and actions and to carefully examine the interrelationship shifts and changes. A truly unique experience that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Another unusual thing was that Teran wrote in a foreword statement that he would leave it to the reader’s judgment whether our present political and military situation parallels the world upon which his novel was built. Doing this, of course, also forces the reader to verify or deny those parallels. Even before I started to read, I was sure there would be!

Rawbone was born in Scabtown and raised in a brothel. He was not yet 10 when he killed his first man. His son considered him a common assassin.

His son thought he hated him because he had left he and his mother. Perhaps, though, he had grown stronger because of his father—because John Lourdes was a respected officer of the Bureau of Investigation. And he wanted to be the cause of his father’s death...

Now he had his chance. In his latest escapade Rawbone had killed all of the men who were driving a large truck—full of guns and ammunition. Rawbone had planned on selling the load to the highest bidder, checking in with his lawyer as to how that could be best accomplished. He sent him to Juarez to meet with “very private people.”

John Lourdes was already working in that area. So was his boss, Justice Knox, who was at the right place at the right time to capture Rawbone. In fact, his son was one of the agents who now had him under arrest. But then, Rawbone had something to trade...

It made John sick to think that his father could earn immunity. What was worse, because he was the only agent who was bilingual, John was going to have to travel with Rawbone as he “worked off” his end of the deal. They would travel across the border, where John would have no authority; Rawbone could escape or kill him and nobody could prevent it! The only hold over him would be that John would have Knox’s direct order to kill him if he posed any type of threat. Father and Son both had reason to protect each other—or to kill the other!

And they were heading deep into Mexican oil country--where representatives of American oil companies and governmental officials were meeting to increase bottom line profits--with oil, it’s always the bottom line...

Boston Teran’s The Creed of Violence is a tour into the deadly violence that erupts when power and money drive the actions of men, while others starve and barely make a living. With high tension between father and son while the action is sometimes slow-paced, it challenges readers to study the love/hate relationship as it evolves between the two men, as they fight to save their lives!

This tale will live with me--and maybe you--for a long time! Highly recommended!

G. A. Bixler

Review: Eclipse - Compelling Drama Is A Must-Read

Eclipse
By Richard North Patterson
Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 9780805087727
337 Pages


This may be one of the most important books you read this year. Richard North Patterson’s latest novel is a compelling drama that will leave readers stunned. The novel is based upon the life of human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who was hanged in Nigeria fifteen years ago. May we Americans, who read this and other similar, revealing books, begin immediately to understand and encourage the reduction of our country’s oil demands that create these intolerable situations! May we weep for what our country’s power-hungry people refuse to see! Surely the time has come to stop—surely this novel will help you decide!

Marissa Brand met Damon Pierce in a writing class. While he fell deeply in love with Marissa, she was already involved and committed to Bobby Okari. Indeed, when Bobby went back to his homeland, Luandia, Marissa went as his wife.

However, many years later, as Damon’s wife was divorcing him; and he was considering where his life was going, Marissa contacted Damon and sought his help—for Bobby!

The call for help from Damon was not just because they had remained friends through the years, it was also because Damon was a lawyer and had previously gained extensive experience in human rights trial negotiations. Bobby had begun to speak out against the government and the lack of support to the people. The lands had been ruined by the oil company’s activities, including the damage created by the theft of oil by those within the country, who had no other way to keep from starving. There was no way to grow sufficient crops to maintain the population; worse the leaders were so corrupt they did nothing except work to improve their own interests.

Bobby Okari, following the work of Martin Luther King, had begun a non-violent movement to seek attention of both the oil company leadership as well as the country’s leaders. When his group became large enough and vocal enough to become a problem, everybody turned against him. The only thing that worked in this country was to have sufficient money to bribe those that could be bribed!

By the time Damon reached Africa, Bobby’s village had been totally wiped out, his father had been murdered and beheaded, and three employees of the oil company had been killed and their murder blamed on Bobby. Bobby had been placed in prison; Marissa was under house arrest most of the time.

As Damon and his staff follow the events and try to put together a defense for Okari, the story revealed is not only horrendous, it is representative of true events! This is a must-read! America needs to wake up to what our own greed has created in oil-rich countries!

Patterson has many well-written and thrilling novels in his past; however, in my opinion, this is his best to date! I commend him for addressing such an important issue and in presenting it in what must be considered an exciting drama that will keep readers’ attention not only to the last page, but on into the afterword!


G. A. Bixler
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Devil's Pocket - Black Gold!

Devil’s Pocket
By Fred B. McKinley
ISBN 1-4241-7751-0
262 Pages

In an exciting historical adventure, Devil’s Pocket, Fred B. McKinley brings us sex and secrets during the times when black gold was the lure for men striving to make their fame and fortune. More, he gives us three family stories that twine and intertwine so fully that murder had to result--secrets always come out! McKinley uses his knowledge and research for his earlier book, Black Gold to Bluegrass, a nonfiction account of the second Spindletop oil boom that occurred in 1925 in Beaumont, Texas. With this background, he has created a thrilling first novel that pulls readers into the time and feelings of those who lived and searched for the rich oil lands in early America.

The main thrust of the book follows the life of Morgan, a young ambitious man who moved quickly and easily from one job to another as he sought to secure his financial future. While ambitious, he was also a man who loved and respected his family, working diligently to provide support and a home for his mother and sister.

Rachael fell in love with Morgan upon first sight. She was the daughter of a rich man and the granddaughter of an even richer man! Morgan had come to Rachael’s father to seek financial support in one of his ventures. Thoughts of Rachael or any other woman were far from his plans, as he became friends with her father. Many years went by as Rachael waited and longed for Morgan to notice and come to love her.

A simple love story? Not!

While waiting for Morgan, Rachael foolishly flirts with the wrong man, and because he doesn’t listen to her when she tells him to “stop,” she later finds herself pregnant. Rachael wants both to keep her child and to not have to admit that she is hers. Her lies later leave her daughter in the same situation and with the same man--her father!

As Morgan is busily making an honorable name for himself and working continuously to move forward toward his goals, oil is struck at Spindletop and he gets a touch of the “fever” that many men followed and for which many men failed. Morgan had his sights set on leasing land that he felt would be rich with oil. The only problem was that Rachael’s grandfather owned it! Morgan went to his friend, Rachael’s father, hoping to work through him to gain support to lease his father-in-law’s land, but they had been enemies since the birth of Rachael since his daughter had died giving birth. However, there was one thing that the two men had in common--a love for Rachael so strong that they could put aside their estrangement and secretly work toward making Rachael happy; i.e., married to Morgan!

Devil’s Pocket was the bait...

Oil was struck there—richer even than Spindletop! But at what cost? For in the end, Morgan and his sister were dead and so was Rachael, her father, and her grandfather.

Susannah Fletcher, a granddaughter, was one of the few left. She wore a tarnished cross from a grandmother she had never known. And she was given her grandmother’s diary to haunt her until she found the true story of what had happened to the family members, now all gone.

The early 1900’s were hard times. Women were often left to carry the burden of children from lost loves. Men left to try to find the fortunes that they knew they were due. Some found them; most did not. Devil’s Pocket presents the drama behind those lustful times. McKinley may have written the fiction; but readers will easily and quickly believe that all of the events could easily have been real. He has created characters you will hate immediately. Some are crafty and selfish and want their own way. Others love and work hard to provide for their families. They were killed due to greed, love, pride, but most of all, fear.

Readers interested in historical fiction will find this a well-written, well-researched story of the time when black gold fever touched our lands. Devil’s Pocket, hopefully, will not be the last story about this time period. This reader is already looking for a McKinley sequel!


G. A. Bixler
IP Book Reviewer