Shepherd's Son

Mysterious Ways #3

by Terry W. Burns

After her husband's death, Audrey can't think of any other way for her son, Jay, to keep their ranch functioning, but to do something that's unthinkable. When Audrey and Jay bring sheep into cattle country, they encounter opposition of every kind—opposition that's made all the more challenging when Jay falls for the daughter of a cattleman.

Shepherd's Son is a story of greed, family loyalty, and the quest for power; it's a Wild West adventure that will remind you that the Lord works in Mysterious ways.

252 pages, Paperback

First published July 27, 2006

About the author

Terry Burns has been with the Hartline Literary agency for ten years, more than five years as an agent, and has a substantial list of clients, a growing list of credits, and a reputation for presenting to conferences all over the country. Terry comes from a writing background, has over forty books of his own in print, most recently adapting a Christian movie script to print for the movie Footprints, a Young Adult novel entitled Beyond the Smoke, which won the Will Rogers Medallion, the three book Mysterious Ways series from David C. Cook, and a book on the skills needed to get published entitled A Writer s Survival Guide to Getting Published that was developed out of the month long course he held for the American Christian Fiction Writers. A bookstore of his available works as well as a periodic blog can be found at terryburns(dot)net. Terry has a BA from West Texas A & M and did graduate work at Southern Methodist University. He's a member of the Association of Author s Representatives (AAR).

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel set in the wild west when men took the law into their own hands. Fellow ranchers are upset with Jay and his widowed mom when they bring in sheep to graze their land in order to keep their farm alive.

[Valerie (Val's Vicinity) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline: When Audrey's husband died, she and her son, Jay, did the only thing they could to keep the ranch afloat... they changed from cattle and started raising sheep. Living right in the heart of cattle country, this change creates quite a stir in their community. The ranch owners and cowboys around them don't think sheep belong in cattle country, they say that sheep and cattle can't graze together. And some people will stop at nothing to remove the sheep from the area...

My opinion: I liked the characters of the "good guys", Jay, Audrey, and Carrie Sue. But it seemed they really weren't in the story enough...so much of the book was about the bad guys and their plotting against Jay and the sheep. I just wasn't able to sympathize with the bad guys at all, so that part seemed a little long. There were also a couple people that had such a complete change of heart about certain situations, that it seemed a bit unbelievable. These are just some of my thoughts though... The sheep/cattle war was kind of enlightening when I found out that this type of thing actually used to be an issue. I'd never heard of the sheep/cattle thing before, so it was a bit of a history lesson in that way. :)

This book concludes the Mysterious Ways series. Overall I would say this is a good western series, it might be a bit more suited for men, but I think women would enjoy it as well. There is a bit of romance in each book, just enough for the women yet not too much to scare the men away! :) And it's the same with the gun fights, enough for men but not too much to chase the women off. All three books have plots that aren't your typical Christian-western fiction, so they are certainly unique in that aspect.

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry Burns has done it again - entertaining storytelling with strong underlying themes. In this one, he focuses on the tension between cattle ranchers and the former cattleman who had the nerve to bring sheep to his ranch. The underlying theme I found most interesting was about how harboring grudges can lead a person down a long path of depravity and self-destruction. When that person hits bottom, the choice is to stay on the same path out of stubborn rebellion or to realize a change is needed.

I love how the three books in this series are tied in through the character of Amos, former crook turned Preacher. He was the main focus of the first novel, then steps into the 2nd and 3rd stories as adviser and helper of those to whom he is led.


Mr. Burns has made me like a genre (the western) that I never much cared for. This novel ends with Amos heading towards Denver . . . so I hope that means there will be another story in this series.

[Terry]

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