AUTHOR FAVOURITES: HOMBRECITO'S WAR by W. MICHAEL FARMER

W. Michael Farmer tells me his favourite of his own novels is HOMBRECITO'S WAR, which was a WWA (Western Writers of America) Best First Novel finalist and a New Mexico Book Award Finalist for Historical Fiction. In writing it, Michael says he ‘discovered the pure joy of writing, learned there were infinite subtleties to balance in writing a good story, and that fiction really was a way to find the truth behind a historical story.’

In HOMBRECITO'S WAR Michael writes about the ‘Fountain murders.’

COLONEL ALBERT FOUNTAIN (1838 -?1896) had a colourful, adventurous life before coming to a mysterious end.

In 1860, working as a journalist, he narrowly escaped a firing squad in Nicaragua. Later, serving in the American Civil War brought him to New Mexico, where he was wounded fighting Apaches. He went on to become the lieutenant governor of Texas, killed at least one man in a duel and worked as a judge and attorney - unsuccessfully defending BILLY THE KID in court.

In 1896 Fountains and his 8-year-old son, HENRY, vanished in the desert near White Sands, believed murdered. Local ranchers, who may have been part of a rustling ring Fountain was investigating, were considered suspects, to the extent there was subsequently a shoot-out between them and the law, including PAT GARRETT.

In HOMBRECITO'S WAR Henry Fountain survives, to make bloody war on his father’s murderers, in the ways taught him by Yellow Boy, his Apache mentor.

About the White Sands area of south eastern New Mexico - according to Wikipedia:

‘The desert is located in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. Its white sands are not composed of quartz, like most desert sands, but of gypsum and calcium sulfate. Unlike other desert sands, it is cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun's rays.

At 1185 meters above sea level, there are approximately 442 square kilometers of dune fields and is known to be the world's largest surface deposit of gypsum.’

A western set in the White Sands region, FOUR FACES WEST (1948) starring JOEL McCREA, featured CHARLES BICKFORD playing Pat Garrett, although it wasn’t about the Fountain disappearances.

CHARLES BICKFORD as Pat Garrett in FOUR FACES WEST (1948)

Reviews:

‘A superlative read. … a powerful story.’

This book is a fantastic read… The author uses unique phrases that paint enjoyable mental images that I have never experienced before.’

‘This was a very enjoyable book, which surprisingly, drew me in emotionally. …I cried more than once. The story is told with wonderful details of the landscape.’

‘An outstanding fiction writer.’          

‘We all LOVED this book, even though none of us is much of a fan of the western genre… Farmer paints a vivid picture of southern New Mexico and tells his tale well.’

‘As good as it gets.’

https://www.amazon.com/Hombrecitos-War-W-Michael-Farmer/dp/159526082X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8