The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo, Ian Stansel
The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo, Ian Stansel
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The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo

Author: Ian Stansel

Narrator: Megan Tusing

Unabridged: 5 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Mariner Books

Published: 08/06/2024


Synopsis

“One of the most compelling novels I’ve read in a long time.” —Eowyn Ivey
 
“Shares the trail with the likes of Edward Abbey, Cormac McCarthy, and Larry McMurtry.” —Craig Johnson, best-selling author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries, the basis for the hit show Longmire
 
When Silas Van Loy flees home on horseback to avoid capture for his brother’s murder, he is followed by both the police and his brother’s wife, Lena, who is intent on exacting revenge. She reluctantly lets her trusted stable assistant join her in a journey across the wilds of Northern California in the hopes of catching Silas for one final showdown. Stansel follows the chase and shares the story of the brothers’ rise from hardscrabble childhood to their reign as the region’s preeminent horse trainers, tracking the tense sibling rivalry that ultimately leads to the elder’s death.

A “fast-paced, moving narrative in which family loyalty is tested, broken, and redeemed in unexpected ways,”* The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo will satisfy fans of Kent Haruf, Charles Portis, Molly Gloss, and Smith Henderson, and establish Stansel as a new voice in this grand tradition.

*BookPage

About Ian Stansel

IAN STANSEL is the author of the collection of stories Everybody’s Irish, a finalist for the PEN/Bingham prize for debut fiction. His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Joyland, Ecotone, and Cincinnati Review. His nonfiction has appeared in Salon,CutBank, and The Good Men Project. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston, where he was the editor of Gulf Coast.He currently serves as assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Louisville.  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lark on January 30, 2019

Silas kills his brother Frank in the first paragraph and then implausibly eschews his truck and makes his getaway instead on a horse called Disco, so that the novel can be called a Western I guess. Frank's wife pursues on her own horse and with revenge in her heart. Silas meets a bisexual. I liked t......more

Goodreads review by Lee on August 01, 2017

Loved the juxtaposition of dusty ol' hardscrabble cowboy brothers with the modern equestrian set and LGBTs of Marin County. (Note: see comment below.) Equine adoration as religion. Strong prose. Characterizing dialogue. Great local wine. Undercurrents of violence always ready to surface. Extending o......more

Goodreads review by The Shayne-Train on March 30, 2017

This novel about a lifetime of love and resentment between brothers is the best book I have read this year. I found it basically pitch-perfect. All year, I've been giving books that I really, really liked 4 stars, and feeling guilty. Now I see why. I was saving 5-star ratings for books like THIS one......more

Goodreads review by Kasa on August 12, 2017

Beautiful evocation of the past butted up against the present with Marin County as the star.......more

Goodreads review by Jaclyn on July 26, 2017

A creative, deceptively simple plot that turned out to be surprisingly thrilling and emotional.......more