Along the notorious Rogue River, gold seekers, crazed by the discovery of nuggets that made them rich overnight, are at war with one another. The river itself swarms with salmon, bringing along with them another kind of wealth and violent fighting between fishermen and the fish-packing monopoly. Into this scene comes Keven Bell, returning to face life after being handicapped by a disfiguring wound he received in World War I. Keven teams up with a broken-down fisherman and boatbuilder. When they try to buck the salmon ...
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Along the notorious Rogue River, gold seekers, crazed by the discovery of nuggets that made them rich overnight, are at war with one another. The river itself swarms with salmon, bringing along with them another kind of wealth and violent fighting between fishermen and the fish-packing monopoly. Into this scene comes Keven Bell, returning to face life after being handicapped by a disfiguring wound he received in World War I. Keven teams up with a broken-down fisherman and boatbuilder. When they try to buck the salmon-packing monopoly, they encounter violence and trickery; their boat is sunk and they are left to swim for their lives. Keven is tended to by Beryl, the daughter of a gold miner. His convalescence is slow, but the autumn days, fishing and camping, make a woodland dream of romance. But no sooner has an operation straightened out Keven's injuries than he is framed on a charge of murder in the salmon-packing war. Keven must carry on as best he can, along with what help Beryl and her old father can give, to clear his name and ensure his and Beryl's safety on the turbulent Rogue. Zane Grey's vigorous storytelling and portrayal of violence in the wild make this novel one of his best. There is a deep emotional feeling for nature in the raw, for the great salmon runs, and for the clashes of men fighting for gold. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns--books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians--are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L'Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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This is perhaps my favorite of all the Zane Grey "war novels" ---and it's NOT A WESTERN---except for the fact it is set in Oregon. Keven Bell has come home from WW1 a changed man, and he comes home seeking something to live for, having been injured in a training accident which resulted in losing part of the vision in one eye and part of his jaw is missing--and Zane Grey having been a practicing dentist gets to use his talents in fixing his face. Keven is so changed his father does not recognize him; his father had not even heard from him in two years--the two years Keven spent recovering in the hospital. Worse, his father has little to offer his son, having fallen on hard times. Keven's one salvation is his love of fishing, and with the help of Garry Lord they begin a fishing business to sell salmon to the local cannery. In so doing they discover other fishermen who were illegally netting across the mouth of the river with a nets with opennings too small effective capturing all the fish. This book is Zane Grey's protest against this form of fishing in order to try to protect the salmon before they might be fished to extinction. This is a fine, fine novel; and is a story packed with emotion, and powerful imagery of what the disabled veteran faced when returning home---alas, have we learned anything from history as our soldiers return home today? Once again, I say: Do not rate Zane Grey as "only" a writer of westerns. There is so much more to be found in his body of work as this novel proves.