BLAZE OF LIGHTNING ROAR OF THUNDER - Helen A. Rosburg
Medallion Press
ISBN-13: 9781932815641
ISBN-10: 1932815643
August 2008
Historical Romance

Nineteenth Century American West

Louisa Rodriquez returned to her village to find scalp hunters slaughtering everyone in the village, including her entire family. The men didn't care whether the Indian scalps they presented to the government for payment were actually Mexican. One of them, a man with a facial scar, shot Louisa and left her for dead. She survived with a thirst for vengeance.

On her journey to find and kill her family’s murderers, she meets Ring Crossman, a nomadic horse trainer and trader. She will not tell him either her name or her story, so he names her Blaze for the white, lightning-like streak in her black hair caused by the bullet’s scar. Ring’s kindness and friendship attract Blaze and change her bleak life, but not her goal. Instead, she joins with another man, a half-breed Apache named Bane who shares her ambition to kill the man with the scar. Bane tells her, "He will be delivered to hell by you, Blaze of Lightning. And I will bring the thunder."

Author Helen A. Rosburg writes a Western with a sense of flair for both history and drama. Blaze is a character driven to the point of extreme self-deprivation. Because of this, you might find it hard to identify with her, but that is all right. Blaze isn't an ordinary woman, but a legend in the making. In the prologue, she is being hung, and you become anxious to discover how and why. The rest -- the horror of her family’s deaths and the hunt for the men who committed the crime -- is all back-story that returns you to that point. Between the Old West’s racism and gender biases, you come to understand this very unusual character and the fight she faces. The story is not all action and violence, but is also a journey to find love and understanding, one you will want to take.

Robin Lee