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Creede of Old Montana
When a mentor who enabled his education and career entreats him to accept a college presidency amid an embezzlement scandal, trial lawyer Mark Darrow remembers his discovery of a murdered girl sixteen years earlier that resulted in a classmate's questionable conviction. (Suspense).
520 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Stephen Bly
127 books72 followersStephen Bly (August 17, 1944 - June 9, 2011) authored 100 books and hundreds of articles. His book, THE LONG TRAIL HOME, (Broadman & Holman), won the prestigious 2002 CHRISTY AWARD for excellence in Christian fiction in the category western novel. Three other books, PICTURE ROCK (Crossway Books), THE OUTLAW'S TWIN SISTER (Crossway Books), and LAST OF THE TEXAS CAMP (Broadman & Holman), were Christy Award finalists. He spoke at colleges, churches, camps and conferences across the U.S. and Canada. He was the pastor of Winchester Community Church, and served as mayor of Winchester, Idaho (2000-2007). He spoke on numerous television and radio programs, including Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. He was an Active Member of the Western Writers of America. Steve graduated summa cum laude in Philosophy from Fresno State University and received a M.Div from Fuller Theological Seminary. The Blys have three sons: Russell (married to Lois) and father of Zachary and Miranda (married to Chris Ross) and mother of Alayah, Michael (married to Michelle), and Aaron (married to Rina Joye) and father of Keaton and Deckard. A third generation westerner, Steve spent his early years working on ranches and farms.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 8, 2010
Title: CREEDE OF OLD MONTANA
Author: Stephen Bly
Publisher: Center Point
October 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60285-575-5
Genre: Inspirational/historical
Avery John Creede is an ex-cavalry soldier searching for four of his Army pals who didn’t show up for a reunion.
When Avery Creede arrives in Fort Benton, Montana, he notices a lady dressed in yellow strolling along the river bank. Something about the situation doesn’t sit right, so Creede heads down that way. The woman starts calling “Help, help” when she sees him and he figures she’s posted to draw his attention away from something else. Sure enough, three bank robbers come running out of the bank.
Creede is able to stop the robbery, but at that point all hopes of sitting in the sidelines becomes a distant memory. Now he is the midst of one conflict after another. Will Creede be able to make discoveries about himself and grow through this process?
CREEDE OF OLD MONTANA is a book that should appeal to Louis L’Armour fans. It is a western in the truest sense of the word, complete with gun-slinging criminals, dusty streets and small western towns, action, and of course, a beautiful woman.
There are some point of view glitches in CREEDE OF OLD MONTANA, making it kind of difficult to immediately get into the story. But after a while, the story takes over and I didn’t notice some of the point of view errors so much. Fans of westerns will want to check this book out for a breath of the Old West. $29.95, hardcover. 518 pages.
Author: Stephen Bly
Publisher: Center Point
October 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60285-575-5
Genre: Inspirational/historical
Avery John Creede is an ex-cavalry soldier searching for four of his Army pals who didn’t show up for a reunion.
When Avery Creede arrives in Fort Benton, Montana, he notices a lady dressed in yellow strolling along the river bank. Something about the situation doesn’t sit right, so Creede heads down that way. The woman starts calling “Help, help” when she sees him and he figures she’s posted to draw his attention away from something else. Sure enough, three bank robbers come running out of the bank.
Creede is able to stop the robbery, but at that point all hopes of sitting in the sidelines becomes a distant memory. Now he is the midst of one conflict after another. Will Creede be able to make discoveries about himself and grow through this process?
CREEDE OF OLD MONTANA is a book that should appeal to Louis L’Armour fans. It is a western in the truest sense of the word, complete with gun-slinging criminals, dusty streets and small western towns, action, and of course, a beautiful woman.
There are some point of view glitches in CREEDE OF OLD MONTANA, making it kind of difficult to immediately get into the story. But after a while, the story takes over and I didn’t notice some of the point of view errors so much. Fans of westerns will want to check this book out for a breath of the Old West. $29.95, hardcover. 518 pages.
May 10, 2010
Hold your horses, Pardner! Don't start this book at bedtime or you might just sacrifice a night's sleep. With page-turning action, pithy dialogue and a fine sense of the ridiculous, ex-cavalry soldier Avery John Creede fights for right (and dear life) as he faces danger head-on. A beautiful blonde girl in a yellow dress, appropriately nicknamed "Sunny," enters the picture with gun in hand and turns Avery's life upside down, although his heart belongs to well-bred Carla. And then there's Ace, green but learning fast from his Uncle Creede. While other less stout-hearted folk flee, they stand together against the Rinkman gang.
Stephen Bly's stunning writing style brings the Old West to life. With deft skill, he sustains a fast pace but doesn't sacrifice characterizations or setting. My only mild quibble with this book is that the humor, while standing on its own merits, sometimes does cross the line of believability to set up "gags." I'm not a regular reader of Classic Westerns, however, so I don't know what's acceptable within the genre.
I highly recommend "Creede of Old Montana" to those who enjoy Western fiction and even to those who might not normally read them. In this world today, we need more heroes. Stephen Bly helps us find them. And that's worth losing a little sleep over.
Stephen Bly's stunning writing style brings the Old West to life. With deft skill, he sustains a fast pace but doesn't sacrifice characterizations or setting. My only mild quibble with this book is that the humor, while standing on its own merits, sometimes does cross the line of believability to set up "gags." I'm not a regular reader of Classic Westerns, however, so I don't know what's acceptable within the genre.
I highly recommend "Creede of Old Montana" to those who enjoy Western fiction and even to those who might not normally read them. In this world today, we need more heroes. Stephen Bly helps us find them. And that's worth losing a little sleep over.
April 22, 2010
I've read many a Stephen Bly book in my day and "Creede of Old Montana" stands on its own as an action-packed adventure with more plot twists than a mountain road. Early in the novel I felt like something was missing -- like this was the second novel in a series and we'd missed out on necessary information to set up where we were. Later there were some nicely-done flashbacks which I felt filled in the gaps, but by the end I was thinking there was such a huge amount of story that it could have easily filled a trilogy.
The reading experience was a little disjointed, as if I read a series in 2-1-3 order. It took me a while to care about the characters, but I have to say that once the final 50 pages rolled around I was hooked, once the dangers were out of the way and it was time to make a decision of the heart. The ending was classic Bly with wonderful laugh-out-loud humor and romance.
This was a much better novel than Bly's previous release and it was nice to see a strong, if scattered, faith element. I would have rated the overall story 3 stars, but the ending merited 5 stars so I'll meet in the middle on this one. :-)
The reading experience was a little disjointed, as if I read a series in 2-1-3 order. It took me a while to care about the characters, but I have to say that once the final 50 pages rolled around I was hooked, once the dangers were out of the way and it was time to make a decision of the heart. The ending was classic Bly with wonderful laugh-out-loud humor and romance.
This was a much better novel than Bly's previous release and it was nice to see a strong, if scattered, faith element. I would have rated the overall story 3 stars, but the ending merited 5 stars so I'll meet in the middle on this one. :-)
May 20, 2010
I have never read a book written by Stephen Bly that I didn’t love and “Creede of Old Montana” is the best one ever. This book will have you laughing, crying, holding your breath and just having a great time. As soon as Avery John Creede comes into the story there is one conflict after another. He stops a bank robbery, a beautiful girl Sunny tries to
kill him. Then he finds out his nephew has grown up and is now 16. Avery Creede’s love of his life Carla shows up. Also the Rinkman gang is after him and Sunny. All of this happens while John is trying to find his 4 Army buddies. Creede has a strong faith and tries to do the will of the Lord. He is a person who lives his faith and also is willing to share it with any one he comes across.
One scene in the book made tears come to my eyes and that doesn’t happen often. It was so touching and full of emotion. Sad, but very beautiful.
“Creede of Old Montana” is funny, inspiring, full of love, has many battles and fights, but also has sad, touching moments. So if you love Westerns this is a book you must have. Even if you don’t like them you will love this book. I HIGHLY recommond “Creede of Old Montana.”
kill him. Then he finds out his nephew has grown up and is now 16. Avery Creede’s love of his life Carla shows up. Also the Rinkman gang is after him and Sunny. All of this happens while John is trying to find his 4 Army buddies. Creede has a strong faith and tries to do the will of the Lord. He is a person who lives his faith and also is willing to share it with any one he comes across.
One scene in the book made tears come to my eyes and that doesn’t happen often. It was so touching and full of emotion. Sad, but very beautiful.
“Creede of Old Montana” is funny, inspiring, full of love, has many battles and fights, but also has sad, touching moments. So if you love Westerns this is a book you must have. Even if you don’t like them you will love this book. I HIGHLY recommond “Creede of Old Montana.”
December 1, 2009
Loved this one.
Billed as a Christian western, I didn't know what to expect going in.
Avery John Creed, looking for four army buddies that missed a reunion, breaks up a bank robbery in Fort Benton, which runs him afoul of an outlaw leader named Rinkman.
Suspicion falls on him when the banker says $500 of the loot is missing. When the amount grows to $5,000, Creede begins to realize he should never have stopped in town.
He goes through a series of adventures with his nephew that are often humorous as people try to kill him or get him to leave town.
His biggest fear, and uncertainty, is the two women competing for him. One, a rich girl from the East he's engaged to and the other, a poor country girl, the sister of one of his buddies. He likes both but is not sure he's right for either. Very perplexing.
Billed as a Christian western, I didn't know what to expect going in.
Avery John Creed, looking for four army buddies that missed a reunion, breaks up a bank robbery in Fort Benton, which runs him afoul of an outlaw leader named Rinkman.
Suspicion falls on him when the banker says $500 of the loot is missing. When the amount grows to $5,000, Creede begins to realize he should never have stopped in town.
He goes through a series of adventures with his nephew that are often humorous as people try to kill him or get him to leave town.
His biggest fear, and uncertainty, is the two women competing for him. One, a rich girl from the East he's engaged to and the other, a poor country girl, the sister of one of his buddies. He likes both but is not sure he's right for either. Very perplexing.
May 3, 2020
When Creede stops a bank robbery, he ends up in more trouble than he ever expected. – While the first six pages of this are kind of alarming (editor on vacation?) the rest of this book is pure edifying entertainment.
February 5, 2011
I'm not usually into westerns but I love the author's dry humor. A little more violent than I like.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews