FOOL'S GOLD

 

FOOL’S GOLD

By J.P. Linde

El Dorado Publishing

212 pgs

 

We’ve always had a fondest for stories that bring together historical figures, who in reality never met. Such is the case in this new adventure by J.P. Linde. H has American writer Jack London venturing into the rugged mountains of Alaska after encountering none other that former western lawman, Wyatt Earp. Thay premise alone was enough to wet our appetite.

 

An old gold prospector named Chilkoot Charlie has discovered a fantastic gold mine. Unfortunately for him, the news of his claim is discovered by an unscrupulous dentist named Lee. Lee immediately sets about hiring thugs to capture the old man and learn the location of his mine. Before they can do so, Charlie draws a map and mails it his friend Jack London in San Franciso. Upon receipt of the map, London books package on a steamer bound for Juneau. Only a few days earlier he had met a young black boy named Tomas and the boy’s dog Terry. The boy’s father was missing and Tomas was desperate to find him.

Dentist Lee learns of the map sent to London and wires ex-lawman Wyatt Earp to retrieve it using any means necessary. Tomas, aware the mercenary gunfighter is also traveling on the steamer, stows away on the ship and warns London. And thus begins the chase with Earp, and a few of Lee’s thugs, after the famed novelist and orphan lad and his dog. What intrigued us was Linde’s using Earp as a villain.

He paints Earp as a cold-blooded killer whose only interest is money. Now that’s a very huge leap from the Hollywood hero most of us have grown up with. Still, history is a fickle animal and her accounts are often suspect to various interpretations. There were in fact lots of folks who consider Earp, and his brothers, just another rough-house gang no better than the other outlaws of the era. One has to wonder if the truth lies somewhere between the two disparities. In the end, Linde’s approach is a novelty. The writer even throws in a beautiful green-eyed brunette femme-fatale named Nicole who mesmerizes both the writer and the lawdog throughout.

By the book’s climax, we were soundly entertained and applaud what is an old fashion, rousing outdoor adventure much like Jack London would have penned himself. “Fool’s Gold” is a fun new look back when men and women accepted the challenge of the wilderness with gusto and a bit of foolish bravado, ala the book’s title. We think you’ll enjoy it.