Thursday, 15 September 2022

ANDREW McBRIDE’s REVIEW of BLOOD AND GOLD by JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE

 Here’s my four star review of BLOOD AND GOLD by JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE. You can find the review on Goodreads and Amazon.co.uk.




MY REVIEW:

'Interesting character study, pacey, entertaining tale

JOAQUIN MURRIETA has long fascinated me, so I was waiting for a novel tying his story together. JEFFREY MARIOTTE has provided one and makes a fine job of it. Murrieta was a Mexican bandit whose gangs raided in California in the gold rush era of the early 1850s. Mariotte makes no claims to tell ‘the whole truth’ about him. Doing so is clearly impossible as Murrieta’s life (and death) is shrouded in controversy and legend, but Mariotte probably gets as close as anyone can. He writes (with the help of Murrieta’s descendant PETER who provides background information) a pacey, entertaining tale full of action and colour. For me, though, the best part is the characterisation, particularly of Murrieta. He’s a complex, conflicted young man, sometimes aspiring to be a latter-day ‘Robin Hood’ or the liberator of all oppressed Mexicans in California. But at other times he’s simply a ruthless killer. Mariotte has won acclaim and awards writing across genres and in varying formats. He’s relatively new at the western, but has definitely hit the ground running!'



JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE is the bestselling, multiple-award-winning author of more than fifty novels ranging across genres, including ‘dark thrillers,’ supernatural thrillers, horror and latterly westerns. He has also produced comic books, short stories, graphic novels, nonfiction and video games. As well as his own original work, he has written novels and comics based on licensed properties such as CSI, Star Trek, Spider-Man, Superman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Conan the Barbarian and more.

Jeff is a three-time winner of the Scribe Award for best novel, presented by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, a co-winner of the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and a recipient of the Inkpot Award for his contributions to the fields of science fiction and fantasy from the San Diego Comic-Con. He's been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, the International Horror Guild Award, the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, the Peacemaker Award from the Western Fictioneers, and, in the comics’ field, the Harvey and Glyph Awards.

Jeff’s THE FOX AND THE SNAKE was, for me, one of the highlights of SIX GUN JUSTICE PODCAST WESTERN STORIES, an anthology of western short stories edited by Richard Prosch, introduced by Paul Bishop. In my blog about SIX GUN JUSTICE PODCAST WESTERN STORIES I write: ‘Mariotte wastes not a word in this taut, superbly-written tale. Once more, the cinematic qualities of the writing brought movies to mind, perhaps a Sam Peckinpah-directed end-of-the-west elegy with a script by Elmore Leonard. (Full review here: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2021/11/andrew-mcbrides-review-of-six-gun.html )


I’ve also done a couple of AUTHOR FAVOURITE BLOGS about some of Jeff’s previous novels. Here’s one for O’MEARA’S GOLD: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2022/03/author-favourites-omearas-gold-by.html

REVIEWS of O'MEARA'S GOLD:

‘Great action, some very emotional areas, great characters, and a beautifully written storyline.’

‘Rip-roaring western yarn.’

Here’s one for EMPTY ROOMS: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2022/03/author-favourites-empty-rooms-by.html

EMPTY ROOMS earned praise from two acclaimed police procedural authors.

MICHAEL CONNELLY: ‘Empty Rooms is a searing, no-holds barred journey into darkness. Jeffrey J. Mariotte knows the key is character, character, character and has delivered a story about men who relentlessly work the case at the same time the case works them.”

T. JEFFERSON PARKER: ‘Empty Rooms is as good and moving as a thriller can be. Keenly observed and deftly written, it’s something you’ll want on your shelf as long as you have one.’

OTHER REVIEWERS:

‘I have become a big fan of this author. He is just simply a great storyteller!’

 ‘Masterpiece.’

 And one for RIVER RUNS RED: https://andrewmcbrideauthor.blogspot.com/2022/02/author-favourites-river-runs-red-by.html

REVIEWS of RIVER RUNS RED:

DAVID MORRELL, (creator/ author of RAMBO): ‘RIVER RUNS RED is a fascinating blend of espionage and the occult with several jaw-dropping plot twists and one of the best action sequences I've read in a long time.’

OTHER REVIEWERS:

‘…Blends unforgettable characters with horror on a truly epic scale.’

 ‘A pretty wild X-Files-esque supernatural thriller… a very entertaining beginning to Jeff Mariotte’s Border Trilogy.’

JOAQUIN MURRIETA IN FACT AND FICTION

Getting back to Joaquin Murrieta: I’m not going to look at the life of the ‘real’ man as almost all details about his life are, as I said, shrouded in mystery and controversy, and, anyway, they would spoil your enjoyment of Jeff’s novel. As historian Susan Lee Johnson says: ‘So many tales have grown up around Murrieta that it is hard to disentangle the fabulous from the factual.’

The basic facts are that he was a bandit, born in either Mexico or California who raided in California in the gold rush days in the early 1850s. How significant he was, whether he ever acted as ‘the Robin Hood of El Dorado’ or attempted to liberate all Mexicans in California from American rule are yet more areas of dispute. It is a fact that in May 1853 the California state legislature listed ‘Five Joaquins’, suspected criminals whose last names are Muriati (obviously a misspelling of Murrieta) Ocomorenia, Valenzuela, Botellier and Carillo. On May 11, 1853, the California governor signed an act creating the "California State Rangers," to be led by Captain HARRY LOVE, to operate for 3 months, specifically tasked with hunting down these Joaquins. 



An early artist’s impression of MURRIETA

Murrieta’s death is particularly controversial so I’ll say no more about it. Read Jeff’s book! Nor am I going to speculate on the authenticity of the severed head, supposedly of Murrieta, that was carried around California and displayed to the public in a jar of alcohol!

Murrieta is believed to have inspired the fictional character of ZORRO, the lead character in the five-part serial story, ‘The Curse of Capistrano’ published in a pulp magazine in 1919, and featured many times since in popular culture.

Joaquin Murrieta has appeared frequently on radio, in films and in TV series from ‘Death Valley Days’ to ‘The Big Valley.’ RICARDO MONTALBAN played him twice, on radio and then in a 1969 TV movie called ‘Desperate Mission,’ which looks like the pilot for a TV series that never happened.



On film Murrieta turns up in 1998’s ‘The Mask of Zorro,’ a movie featuring both Murrieta AND Zorro. He features – unhistorically – in the late 1850s in the 1953 RANDOLH SCOTT vehicle ‘The Man behind the Gun.’ In 1965 blue-eyed Anglo actor JEFFREY HUNTER was unlikely casting as Murrieta in a not-bad movie of the same name.  



As for Zorro (Spanish for fox,) he’s been played by a variety of actors on film and TV, from DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS Snr. to ANTHONY HOPKINS. GUY WILLIAMS played him in a long-running 1950s TV series. He was finally portrayed by a Hispanic actor - HENRY DARROW – on TV in 1983. In 1990 Darrow re-appeared as Zorro’s father in another TV series.

My favourite Zorro is TYRONE POWER Jr. in the classic 1940 swashbuckler ‘The Mark of Zorro,’ where Power fights an epic sword duel with arch-villain BASIL RATHBONE.



For some political activists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Murrieta has symbolized Mexican resistance against Anglo-American economic and cultural domination in California. In the late 20th century a Los Angeles Chicano community centre was named Centro Joaquin Murrieta de Aztla.

Other reviews of BLOOD AND GOLD:

‘Brilliantly written and nonstop action… highly recommended for anyone who loves some historical fiction mixed with legend.’

 ‘An important tale… with a surprise ending.’

‘Will satisfy both aficionados of gory shoot 'em ups, and scholars of ethnic studies and California history…Amazing.’

‘Great story.’


Find BLOOD AND GOLD here: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Gold-Legend-Joaquin-Murrieta-ebook/dp/B09HL81YT9/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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