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.
Dave Lloyd is a 4th generation Montanan whose great-grandmother came up the Yellowstone on a steamboat to the head-of-track outside Miles City. She knew and told her family stories of the men and the women who lived at the time. Dave grew up listening to her and his grandmother, the first white baby born in the county, as they reminisced of that era's rowdy times.
As a young man, Dave was a working cowboy and became assistant ranch-manager on one of the largest ranches in the state, Western Cattle Company, with hundreds of sections of land and cattle numbering in the thousands. The harsh Montana winters gave Lloyd the incentive to leave the rigorous ranching life and get a higher education.
After attending college and becoming an educator, then school superintendent, Lloyd began to write of the early beginnings of the state he loves. He researches his books and tries to make them historically accurate, with their characters true to the times.
Now retired, Lloyd and his wife, Donna divide their time between Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Helena, Montana.
Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite
Up until now my favorite books on the subject of early American life were those of James Fenimore Cooper. The Leather Stocking Series is classic, and few books can compete with its detailed description of both Native American and European life in early America, until now. War Cry by David Lloyd is a good book, a great book even, and I can totally see it as a popular series rekindling interest in early American life. Every generation needs new material that speaks to it about our past. War Cry and David Lloyd are perfect for doing this for young people today. The series is called The Riverboat and if the other books in the series are as good as War Cry, it has the potential to become a classic.
Just as in The Leather Stocking Series, the best part about War Cry is the unique characters. Lord James Hamilton is already interesting as a somewhat disgraced and down on his luck English lord. After he decides to go to America and change his name to James Palmer, he becomes downright fascinating. James is the protagonist, but there are many characters as fascinating as him, both good and bad. David Lloyd is very good at creating and writing about great characters. He is also very good at describing early American life. When you combine these two things, and throw in a gripping plot, you have a book and a series that may very well stand the test of time and become a classic.
