This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
David Z. Pyke’s All Hot and Bleeding is set in the Republic of Texas in 1840, where sixteen-year-old Silas Grant returns to his family’s Brazos Valley homestead after an expedition into Mexico leaves him wounded and haunted by the men he killed. Silas hopes to recover beside Emily Perry, the young woman he loves, and begin building the future they have imagined together. Farther west, relations between Texian leaders and the Penateka Comanches deteriorate after bloodshed in San Antonio, while war chief Buffalo Hump gathers warriors across the Comancheria. Reports of raids begin reaching settlements farther east as families live with the knowledge that violence can travel quickly across the frontier. With Silas trying to reclaim ordinary life, the widening conflict moves ever closer to the home he values most.
David Z. Pyke’s All Hot and Bleeding is excellent historical fiction, and the author does a beautiful job bringing 1840 Texas to life. Silas is immensely likable, and the author develops him into a young man whose instinct to protect the people he loves is palpable. What's wonderful is how even ancillary characters are fully fleshed out. I love Turtle, a young Comanche boy whose bond with his grandfather, Robe On His Back, is a stunning depiction of one generation guiding the next with their wisdom and experience. There is a balance between these quiet moments and the incredible grit of survival. The author shines in making the frontier a character in its own right, from Mexican Independence Day in San Antonio, where La Villita spills over in celebration, to a Ranger camp beside the Medina River, where volunteers discuss books over venison at the fire. Intelligently written and immersive, readers who enjoy frontier historical fiction will adore this.
