Savage Whisper

by Earl Murray

By 1852, Kentucky had grown too tame for trader Austin Wells, and when he got a letter from his uncle promising him a job with the American Fur Trading Company, he wasted no time heading for Fort Benton, on the upper reaches of the Missouri.

But greenhorns have to prove themselves quickly in a land where man can be more treacherous than the elements and a life can be bought and sold for a jug of whiskey. With a few supplies and no friends, Wells is forced to work with his uncle, a hired bushwhacker, who burns out competing traders for "The Company."

Their first raid is foiled by Eagle's Shadow Woman, whose power as a warrior is feared and respected by all Indians in the region. Wells escapes with his life, but he cannot forget the beauty and ferocity of the woman who almost killed him--or figure out a way to see her again.

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 15, 1998

About the author

AKA E.P. Murray

Reviews

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I haven't gotten far in this book. Unfortunately, I had to return the book to the library because I'm returning to Michigan to live after a short hiatus in Nebraska -- oh well. As I expected, Murray delivers. This man is an amazing writer! I just don't get why he has no bio here on Goodreads? It makes no sense. This book focuses on a young woman whose mother is Blackfeet and a father who is a white trader "back in the day". Murray is gifted with use of words in the English language (as he ought to be -- a college professor). He researched the period he wrote about, including native cultures, existing trade companies, locations of forts and trails and landmarks, etc. The book is remarkable thus far, truly ranking up there with the Gears' pre-American history based fiction books about indigenous people of the now called North America continent. Though this is early American, it is actually about the lands of the Rockies in the Wyoming, Idaho and Montana area when these lands were not yet taken over by white people. I have not finished the book and am probably not more than 33% of the way through. I look forward to getting my hands on another copy to finish it up!