Massacre Creek

by Gordon D. Shirreffs

160 pages, He rode with the suicide patrol on a one-way trail of vengeance.

Genres: Westerns

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Gordon Donald Shirreffs was an American author of Western and young adult novels.

Reviews

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confederate POW joins Union Army out west as Indian fighter only to be captured by Indians, but he is freed by his former Indian wife, only to be imprisoned by a crazed Union officer who then frees him to go on a suicide mission to repair telegraph lines. He is tortured and suffers grave injuries, which only make him fight harder. Graphic and gruesome but totally unbelievable. The female love interests are also totally unbelievable - why do they put up with this guy?

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Massacre Creek is a surprisingly good western novel, set amidst the American Civil War and dealing with confict between Yankees and Confederate prisoners. After months of starvation, mistreatment and disease, the Confederates are blackmailed into takingh a loyalty oath and headed out west to fight Indians.

Oh, there's some typical conicendentals connecting characters that I found a bit too simplistic, but the overall story was really well written and the author seemed to have a good understanding of the weapons, culture, and even some of the proper idioms of the old west.

The western genre is always good for a simplistic read, but this one borders on becoming a historical novel rather than a typical western, though it offers elements of both.

The characters are melodramatic in nature (either very good or very bad) but still, once in awhile, an old western buff like me needs to drop back in on those days of yesteryear and read a good oater. This author fills this niche quite well.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exciting western occurring during the ending months of the Civil War.