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Murphy #5
Murphy's Stand
Grieving over the death of his beloved Midge, Al Murphy, former sheriff of Cincherville, gets a new lease on life when his investigation into murder and intrigue involving a lucrative government contract leads to a struggle for survival
173 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1993
54 people want to read
About the author
Gary Paulsen
390 books3,978 followersGary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2025
Murphy’s Stand is an odd entry in the series for many reasons. Apparently, Book Four, Murphy’s War, was published only as a paperback so Walker and Company, the hardcover publishers of the series, don’t acknowledge its existence and list Murphy’s Stand as book four.
Gary Paulsen takes on a collaborator, Brian Burks, for this volume and proceeds to ignore the events of Murphy’s War by having Murphy still drinking and wandering about moping over Midge’s death. Then, near the end of the book, events from Murphy’s War are tossed in haphazardly.
Murphy’s Stand suffers from too much action in too few pages, compressed character development and Murphy not seeming like the character we’ve known from the previous four books.
I’m hoping that the remaining two books get things back in track.
Gary Paulsen takes on a collaborator, Brian Burks, for this volume and proceeds to ignore the events of Murphy’s War by having Murphy still drinking and wandering about moping over Midge’s death. Then, near the end of the book, events from Murphy’s War are tossed in haphazardly.
Murphy’s Stand suffers from too much action in too few pages, compressed character development and Murphy not seeming like the character we’ve known from the previous four books.
I’m hoping that the remaining two books get things back in track.
January 14, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Star Rating- 4 STARS
Hook- What is that sharp pain in your leg? You look down and see that there is a bullet lodged in you thigh. You continue to shoot down the enemy, one at a time. The kick of your rifle hits your shoulder with that reassuring bump that lets you know that you fired perfectly and the man you hit is dead.
Paragraph- Mr. Murphy has nothing left to live for, or so he thought. His wife was killed by robbers and his farm was taken out from under him. He leaves home insearch of new horizons and finds himself in the middle of a war between to merchantiles competing to sell cattle to the locals. Murphy lands a job at the local merchantile. He will ride with the wagon driver and fend off any enemies he comes apon.He soon falls in love with his boss, a beautiful young widow and they are very happy together.
Recomendation- I recomend it
Star Rating- 4 STARS
Hook- What is that sharp pain in your leg? You look down and see that there is a bullet lodged in you thigh. You continue to shoot down the enemy, one at a time. The kick of your rifle hits your shoulder with that reassuring bump that lets you know that you fired perfectly and the man you hit is dead.
Paragraph- Mr. Murphy has nothing left to live for, or so he thought. His wife was killed by robbers and his farm was taken out from under him. He leaves home insearch of new horizons and finds himself in the middle of a war between to merchantiles competing to sell cattle to the locals. Murphy lands a job at the local merchantile. He will ride with the wagon driver and fend off any enemies he comes apon.He soon falls in love with his boss, a beautiful young widow and they are very happy together.
Recomendation- I recomend it
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews