An Epic Western Featuring a Female Gunslinger

This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that are books that I want to promote. This is another one of those. I recently read “The Broken And The Foolish” Paperback – by Sara Kjeldsen. It was a book that I loved and therefore want to promote. Naturally I rated it five stars. I should mention that in my review below I am referencing the movie “Once upon a Time in the West”. That is because I saw some similarities between the stories. They are both suspenseful revenge stories and the main characters are both traumatized gunslingers and both stories are epic. However, they are completely different stories otherwise. This story is from a feminine perspective.

• Paperback –  September 3, 2017, ISBN-10 : 1976072891, ISBN-13 : 978-1976072895, 344 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.78 x 9 inches, it cost $21.00 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
• Kindle – October 14, 2017, ASIN : B076G9FSP2, 346 pages. It is currently $3.99 on Amazon.com. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Amazon’s description of the book

Some outlaws kill for the rush.

Mary just wants to survive.

Fed up with the saloon life and her abusive boss, Mary flees in the middle of the night to travel the open road, nearly losing her life several times as she encounters bullies, seasoned outlaws, and natural predators. She also meets a few people – and animals – who make their mark on her heart in ways she never imagined.

There were many female outlaws who existed in America’s Old West. This is Mary’s story.

This is my Amazon review of The Broken And The Foolish by Sara Kjeldsen

Once Upon a Time in the West Life Was Cruel To One Woman and She Fought Back Hard

To help her family avoid the cruel fate of starvation Mary takes a job as a so-called saloon girl and so begins her journey into hell. Her boss Max is an evil and cruel man but one day she escapes, and she kills a man in the process. As an outlaw she encounters several evil bullies who try to take advantage of her, and she must kill again. Her life is not only misery. She enjoys the beautiful nature in the Ozarks. Then she discovers that Max has killed her sister and mother just to get back at her and so begins her quest for revenge. The story may seem simple enough so far, but life throws her a few curve balls that I did not expect. There’s romance, betrayal, shoot-outs, and more cruel bullies. It seems like she is not getting any breaks, but she is a survivor and a great gunslinger who knows how to take care of herself.

One section of the book, related to a medicine woman, or so-called witch, might be uncomfortable to some readers, but I thought the implicit commentary on society, religion, philosophy was brilliant and powerful, and it forced me to think about the issue(s) in a way I have not done before. Mary is no angel, but she is not a bad person either. Life was cruel to her, and she did not always make the best decisions trying to survive. She is a killer, and she seeks revenge, but all the men she kills are bad guys, and she makes sense as a desperate and traumatized female outlaw. My thoughts went to Harmonica in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. He was an outlaw and a sad, traumatized, perhaps even pitiful soul whose purpose in life was revenge, and yet he is probably the most iconic character in the history of Wild West movies. I saw a number of parallels between Harmonica and Mary. Max would then correspond to Frank. Don’t get me wrong, it is a totally different story.

This book is suspenseful, dramatic, romantic, emotional, cruel, sad, beautiful, and action packed. It has everything you want in a western, but the main character is a woman. I think you can say it is a feminist perspective. Everyone may not be ready for that, but I thought it was a great book. This book certainly made an impression on me. I highly recommend it.

I am also adding another review of a short story by Sara Kjeldsen that I recently read. It was an intense and fun quick read called Eve and Adam. I rated it five stars. I should mention that I got the story on kindle as part of free one day promotion that she had. I wrote a review, but Amazon is taking its jolly time to post it, so I am not including a link to my review right now. I will update later.

• Paperback –  September 16, 2015, ISBN-10 : 1517362385, ISBN-13 : 978-1517362386, 72 pages, Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.84 ounces, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.15 x 9.02 inches, it cost $9.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
• Kindle – September 17, 2015, ASIN : B015IN12TG, 37 pages. It is currently $3.99 on Amazon.com. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Amazon’s description of the book

Adam meets Eve, a girl who lives in a cult village, on the afternoon he plans to kill himself. Her whimsical charm pulls him away from his suicidal ideations, but he soon learns that she holds a world of darkness that rivals his own. They long to escape their suppressive backgrounds, but there are people in Adam’s town who already have other plans for him.

Eve & Adam is the story of two young free thinkers and the harmful outcomes of prejudice and hate.

This is my Amazon review of Eve & Adam by Sara Kjeldsen

Two Outcasts from Two Oppressive Worlds

Eve lives in a cult village that she is trying to escape. She is unhappy with the backwards religious beliefs and an arranged marriage she is being forced into. She meets Adam a suicidal young man who finds the intolerance of the people in the town he lives in insufferable. Other than their oppression they don’t seem to have a lot in common. Together they try to escape their respective situations, but this turns out to be quite difficult and dangerous.

I read the kindle version. It was a quick one (or two) hour intense read that made my evening. The dialogue was captivating and enlightening. The story was suspenseful and unpredictable and there was something interesting and unexpected happening on essentially every page. Despite being tragic the story was very enjoyable and entertaining, and when I was done it left me pondering on life and the role of belief systems in our various cultures. I highly recommend this short story.

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