Author: theo-czuk

  • The 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs) Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners | Part One

    The 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs) Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners | Part One

    We are deeply honored and excited to announce the 2020 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). The Finalists were recognized at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Ceremonies, and the First Place Category and Grand Prize Winners were announced June 5th, 2021 by ZOOM webinars based at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

     

    The 2021 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2020  Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony was originally scheduled for April 21 – 25, 2021. Each year, Chanticleerians from around the globe come together to celebrate and cheer each other on at the annual CIBA banquet and awards evening at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether that is situated on beautiful Bellingham Bay, Washington State.

    However, in order to celebrate being  able to meet  in person in even a limited capacity (due to the fact that we all able to be vacinated in time), we postponed the First Place Winner and Grand Prize Ceremonies to June 5th, 2021 at the Hotel Bellwether with local Chanticleerians attending cheering each other on along with cheering on the virtual attendees. Champagne was poured and shared as the 2020 CIBA Grand Prize Division Award Winners were announced. After the event the small gathering of Chanticleerians were able to dine together immediately after in the Admiral Room of the Hotel Bellwether.

    CIBA Grand Prize Winners in Before Covid Times

    We’ve now hosted two virtual events and are pivoting to yet another new normal where events will now be expected to be in person and virtual! We were glad to still host VCAC21 on schedule with inimitable presenters like Cathy Ace, J.D. Barker, Bradley Metrock, Dr. Janice Ellis, Jessica Morrell, Paul Hanson, and more! Many of our presenters have already contacted us about the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference currently scheduled for April 7-10, 2022, and we are optimistic that we will be able to host that one in person as vaccinations continue to sweep the US.

    At the June 5th, 2021 Ceremonies, we are excited to recognize the 18 Fiction and 6 Non-Fiction CIBA Divisions for the First Place Category and Grand Prize Winners!

    First of all, we want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 23 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!

    We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increases exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2019—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division.

    The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division. You can order promotional stickers and such here

    A Recap of the CIBA Selection Process

    • The 2020 CIBAs have 18 Fiction Divisions and 6 Non-fiction Divisions.
    • First Place Category award winners were selected for each one of the 24 divisions from an overall field of  titles that progressed to the Premier FINALIST Division Level from the Division Semi-Finalists positions from the Shortlists, the Long List, and the infamous beginning slush pile rounds.
    • One Grand Prize award winner was selected from the First Place Category Award Winners for the 23 CIBA divisions.
    • One Overall Grand Prize award winner was selected from the 24 divisions of Grand Prize Award Winners

    All 2020 CIBA FINALISTS  were recognized with their respective division at the CIBA awards ceremony that was held each evening of VCAC21.

    This post will recognize the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards.

    THANK YOU to VCAC21 SPONSORS and FRIENDS

     

    CIBA Grand Prize Ribbons!

    We are honored to present the

    2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards

    Grand Prize Winners 

    The 2020 CIBA Winners! 


    The CYGNUS Book Awards

    for Science Fiction Novels

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    Blue and gold Grand Prize Winner Badge for Cygnus Science Fiction The Luna Missile Crisis by Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

    THE LUNA MISSILE CRISIS by Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

    Cover of The Luna Missile Crisis by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle

    • Mark T. Sneed – Bully Nation
    • JL Morin – Loveoid
    • Timothy S. Johnston – The Savage Deeps
    • PA Vasey – Trinity’s Fall
    • Russ Colson – The Arasmith Certainty Principle  
    • Zach Fortier – Volk: Book one of The Overseer series        

     


    The OZMA Book Awards

    for Fantasy Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    Blue and gold Grand Prize Winner Badge for Ozma Fantasy for Divinity's Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell

    DIVINITY’S TWILIGHT: REBIRTH BY Christopher Russell

    • T. Cook – Shin
    • Michelle Rene – The Canyon Cathedral: The Witches of Tanglewood, Book Two ( YA)
    • Gordon Preston – Zendragon   
    • H.J. Ramsay – Ever Alice    
    • Alison Levy – Gatekeeper: Book One in the Daemon Collecting Series
    • Jeny Heckman –The Warrior’s Progeny          
    • Glenn Searfoss – Cycles of Norse Mythology: Tales of the AEsir Gods   
    • KC Cowan & Sara Cole – Everfire                                

    The Paranormal Book Awards

    for Supernatural Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is

    Blue and gold Grand Prize Winner Badge for Paranormal Supernatural Fiction Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren

    SOUL SEEKER by Kaylin McFarren

    • T. K. Thorne – House of Rose
    • R.B. Woodstone – Chains of Time   
    • Ryan Young – The Shepherd’s Burden    
    • Lydia Staggs – Azrael
    • Franklin Posner – Boston Betty      
    • Meg Evans – Enthrallment
    • Neil Chase – Iron Dogs
    • E. Alan Fleischauer – Just Die

    The GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards

    for High Stakes Thrillers, Lab Lit, and Suspense Novels

    Grand Prize Winner is

    THE BUCHAREST DOSSIER by William Maz

    Cover of William Maz's The Bucharest Dossier, Chanticleer Grand Prize Global Thrillers Winner 2020
    Pub Date: March 15, 2022

    • Randall Krzak –Colombian Betrayal   
    • Matt Andrus – UFO
    • Lynn Yvonne Moon – The Agency – Tablet of Destinies  
    • Avanti Centrae – Kiss of the Cobra – An M2 Action Thriller
    • Rafael Amadeus Hines –Bishop’s Law
    • Erik Foge – One Way Roads     

    Clue Awards for Suspense Thriller Novels

    The CLUE Book Awards

    for Thrillers, Suspense, Legal, Detective, and Procedural Crime Novels

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    Blue and gold Grand Prize Winner Badge for Clue Suspense Thriller A Venomous Love by Chris Karlson

    A VENOMOUS LOVE by Chris Karlsen

    • Toni Bird Jones –The Measure of Ella    
    • Kari Bovee – Folly at the Fair   
    • Ken Farmer – Three Creeks  
    • Shanessa Gluhm – Enemies of Doves    
    • Martin Roy Hill –The Fourth Rising  
    • J.J.  Clarke – Dared to Run     
    • Corey Lynn Fayman – Ballast Point Breakdown    
    • Chuck Morgan – Crime Denied, A Buck Taylor Novel  
    • Theo Czuk – The Black Bottom

    Cozy Mystery Fiction Award

    The M & M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem

    for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries

    Grand Prize Winner is

    Blue and gold Grand Prize Winner Badge for M & M Mystery and Mayhem The Discovery by Patrick M. Garry

    THE DISCOVERY by Patrick M. Garry

    Cover of The Discovery by Patrick M. Garry

    • Lori Roberts Herbst – Suitable for Framing
    • Michelle Cox – A Child Lost
    • Ana T. Drew – The Murderous Macaron
    • Lina Hansen –In My Attic – A Magical Misfits Mystery        
    • Perry Miller – Lethal Injection
    • Tina Sloan – Chasing Cleopatra 

    Early Readers and Picture books

    LITTLE PEEPS Book Awards for

    Early Readers and Picture Books

    Grand Prize Winner is 

    A blue and gold badge for the 2020 Grand Prize Winner for Little Peeps Children’s Books Great as a Button by Masoud Malekyari

    GREAT AS A BUTTON by Masoud Malekyari and Illustrated by Sebastião Peixoto

    Cover for Great as a Button by Masoud Malekyari

    • Ellie Smith – Tex the Explorer Journey Through the Alphabet
    • D.K. Brantley – Every Mummy Has a Mommy             
    • Dr. Justine Green – Completely Me
    • Courtney Shannon Strand – Ella’s Umbrella
    • Lindy Ryan – Trick or Treat, Alistair Gray
    • Johnny Ray Moore –ANTHILL FOR SALE
    • Raven Howell – So You Want a Puppy?
    • PJ McIlvaine – Little Lena and The Big Table 

    Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

    GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards

    for Middle-Grade Books 

    Grand Prize is

    A blue and gold badge for the 2020 Grand Prize Winner for Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Readers Kassy O’Roarke, Cub Reporter by Kelly OliverKASSY O’ROARKE, CUB REPORTER by Kelly Oliver

    Cover of Kassy O'Roarke Cub Reporter by Kelly Oliver

    • Robert C. Feol – A Journey to Mouseling Hollow
    • Catherine Grangaard –A Fairy’s Tails    
    • Poem Schway – The Infinity Pendant
    • Ruthy Ballard – Frankie and the Gift of Fantasy
    • Ben Gartner – The Eye of Ra
    • Jay Spenser – The Barn Owl Mystery
    • Carmela Dutra – Little Katie Goes to the Moon   

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards

    for Young Adult Fiction

    Grand Prize Winner is

    THE BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Dallas Woodburn

    Cover of The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn

    • Michelle Rene – The Canyon Cathedral: The Witches of Tanglewood,Book Two
    • Sara Hosey –Iphigenia Murphy     
    • Felicia Farber – Ice Queen      
    • Susanne Dunlap – The Paris Affair   
    • Chynna Laird – Just Shut Up and Drive     
    • L.L. Eadie – Yearning for the Unattainable
    • Jodi Lea Stewart – Blackberry Road      
    • Strider S. R. Klusman – Within Reach      
    • Ivy Cayden – Everything All At Once (Book 1, Chorduroys and Too Many Boys™)     

    Congratulations to ALL!

    We will email each winner with more information about their prize packages and more information.

    Be sure to FOLLOW and LIKE us Facebook and on Twitter @ChantiReviews

    Please standby for our next posts that will honor:

    Click here to visit the Second Posting out of Three Official Announcements of the 2020 CIBA Winners.

    Click here to visit the Third Posting out of Three Official Announcements of the 2020 CIBA Winners.

    • Laramie Book Award Winners
    • Chaucer Book Award Winners
    • Goethe Book Award Winners
    • Hemingway Book Award Winners
    • Chatelaine Book Award Winners
    • Mark Twain Book Award Winners
    • Somerset Book Award Winners
    • Journey Book Award Winners
    • Hearten Book Award Winners
    • Harvey Chute Book Award Winners
    • Mind and Spirit Book Award Winners
    • Nellie Bly Book Award Winners
    • Instructional and Insight Book Award Winners
    • Short Story Book Award Winners
    • Book Series Book Award Winners

    And the OVERALL GRAND PRIZE for the 2020 CIBAs!

    We are now accepting entries into the 2021Chanticleer International Book Awards.

    Click here for more information and submission deadlines: https://www.chantireviews.com/contests/

    As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com   We will try to respond within 3 business days.

    Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2020 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team

     

  • CLUE Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Fiction – 2020 CIBA Award Winners

    CLUE Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Fiction – 2020 CIBA Award Winners

    Clue Thriller Suspense Fiction AwardThe CLUE Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Fiction. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).

     

     

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving. These books have advanced to the Premier Level of Achievement in the 2020 CIBAs.

    (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense and Lab Lit Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

    The 2020 CLUE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner were announced by Jessica Stone on Saturday, June 5, 2021 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar and Facebook Live.

    It is our privilege and profound honor to announce the 1st in Category winners of the 2020 CLUE Awards, a division of the 2020 CIBAs.

    This is the OFFICIAL 2020 LIST of the CLUE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner.

    Congratulations to all!

    • Chris Karlsen – A Venomous Love    
    • Toni Bird Jones – The Measure of Ella    
    • Kari Bovee – Folly at the Fair    
    • Ken Farmer – Three Creeks  
    • Shanessa Gluhm – Enemies of Doves     
    • Martin Roy Hill – The Fourth Rising  
    • J.J.  Clarke – Dared to Run     
    • Corey Lynn Fayman – Ballast Point Breakdown    
    • Chuck Morgan – Crime Denied, A Buck Taylor Novel   
    • Theo Czuk – Hastings Street: Boulevard of Blues

     

    The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2020 CLUE Awards is:

    Chris Karlsen for

    A Venomous Love

    Cover of A Venemous Love by Chris Karlsen

    Blue and Gold Grand Prize 2020 Clue Awards Badge for Chris Karlsen's A Venomous Love

    The 2021 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC22 on April 10, 2022. Save the date for CAC22, scheduled April 7-10, 2022, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!

    Submissions for the 2021 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

    Don’t delay! Enter today! 

    A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in July. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

  • LARAMIE Book Awards – SPOTLIGHT Focus on ALL Works of Western Fiction and Uniquely American Tales

    LARAMIE Book Awards – SPOTLIGHT Focus on ALL Works of Western Fiction and Uniquely American Tales

    Welcome to our SPOTLIGHT on LARAMIE Book Awards, the stories that stick!

    Western Pioneeer Civil War Fiction Award

    The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana / Western, Pioneer, Civil War, Frontier, and First Nations Novels. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

    Charles M. Russell painted the cowboy scene on Chanticleer’s very own Laramie Book Awards badge. It is one of many such paintings he did that encompassed the Old American Wild West. He was an advocate for the Northern Plains Indians. Charles M. Russell also helped establish a reservation in Montana for the Chippewa people.

    *More interesting facts about Laramie, Wyoming, and its historical icons are immediately after the Laramie Hall of Fame listing below. A fun read! 

    The Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction Hall of Fame First Place and Grand Prize winners!


    The 2018 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize:

    Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale by Ruth Hull Chatlien

    Laramie Book Awards

     2018 Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction First in Category Winners

     

     


    The 2017 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize Winning Book also won the OVERALL Prize! Best book of 2017:

    HOUR GLASS by Michelle Rene

    2017 Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction First in Category Winners


    The 2016 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize:

    Hot Work in Fry Pan Gulch: Honey Beaulieu – Man Hunter #1
    by Jacquie Rogers

    2016 Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction First in Category Winners

     


    The 2015 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize:

    Widow (formerly known as Doctor Kinney’s Housekeeper) by Sara Dahmen

    2015 Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction First in Category Winners

     


    The 2014 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize:

    Not on My Mountain Jared McVay

    Not On My Mountain by Jared McVay

    2014 Laramie Book Awards for American Western Fiction First in Category Winners


    The 2013 Laramie Book Awards Grand Prize:

    Unbroken Horses by Dale B. Jackson

    Unbroke Horses clean

    Congratulations to the Laramie Awards 2013 1st Place Category Winners:

    • Mystery:  Double or Nothing by Meg Mims
    • Action/Adventure:  Haunted Falls by Ken Farmer & Buck Stienke
    • Historical Fiction: Because of the Camels by Brenda Blair
    • Civil War:  Ford at Valverde by Anita Melillo
    • Prairie Pioneer:  They Rode Good Horses by Dale B. Jackson
    • Literary Western:  Unbroke Horses by Dale B. Jackson
    • First Novel:  Confessions of  a Gunfighter by Tell Cotten
    • Best Manuscript: Lick Creek by Deborah Lincoln


    HOW DO YOU HAVE YOUR BOOKS COMPETE? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards –Click here for more information about The CIBAs! 

    Western Pioneeer Civil War Fiction Award

    Want to be a winner next year? The deadline to submit your book for the 2020 Laramie awards is July 31, 2020. Enter here!

    Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced during our Virtual Conference in early September 2020.

    Any entries received on or after July 31, 2020, will be entered into the 2021 Laramie Book Awards. The Grand Prize and First Place for 2020 CIBA winners will be held on April 17, 2021.

     As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your American Western readers deserve!  Enter today!

    The LARAMIE Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

    The 2020 winners will be announced at the CIBA  Awards Ceremony, which will take place during the 2020 Live/Online Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Semi-Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first place winners will be virtually whisked up on “stage” to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. Covid19 has made our celebrations a bit different this year, but we still will celebrate!

    Don’t delay! Enter today!  

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions, concerns, or suggestions at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com

    [20] McDougall, Walt, “Pictures in the Papers,” American Mercury, 6:21 (September 1925), 72.


    What’s a Laramie?

    We thought you’d never ask!

    We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for Western American Fiction and all things that gather around the campfire singing a lonesome tune, the Laramie Awards, after the county and city in Wyoming. You know the one, tucked into the lower right-hand corner of the state between the Snowy Mountain Range and the Laramie Mountain Range.

    Yes, but why Laramie? 

    The small outpost was changed almost overnight when the Union Pacific Railroad moved their “Hell on Wheels” tent town from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Laramie after building the rails over the Sherman Summit at an elevation of 8,200 feet all the way to Laramie on May 4, 1868. Lawlessness and the Wild West ruled in Laramie. Luckily, “Hell on Wheels” moved on West as more track was laid down.

    But where did that name Laramie come from? 

    Laramie was named after Jacque LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the mountain range that was later named for him in the early 1810s. LaRamie was one of the first Europeans to visit the area. Laramie is a French name much like DuBois, Wyoming. And, yes, it is pronounced Doo – Boys (and NOT Du Bwai).

    There are several reasons we chose Laramie for our iconic Americana Book Awards. For us, and those in the know, Laramie, Wyoming immediately calls to mind the image of a Wild West town filled with rough-and-tumble cowboys. At one point, the only law in Laramie was “lawlessness. Wild Bill Hickok was even known to visit from time to time.

    Here’s a picture of the man, himself, on the left with his friends, Texas Jack Omohundro (center), and Buffalo Bill Cody on the right.

    Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch robbed trains and passengers with the first recorded train robbery taking place on June 2, 1899 in Wyoming. Butch was known to be very polite and dislike violence.

    But that’s not the only reason we chose Laramie.

    And, yes, there is yet one more reason we love Laramie! 

    The WOMEN!

    Calamity Jane hails from Laramie, Wyoming – a skilled sharpshooter who was born to a gambler and a prostitute. She cared for her five younger siblings in Utah before traveling on to Wyoming in search of a better life. There she found work as a dance hall girl and then as a prostitute at Fort Laramie. It was there that she reinvented herself by wearing buckskins and dressing like a man. She was also known for her swearing and hard-drinking ways, but Calamity Jane was also known even more for her kind heart and helping folks out of calamities–thus her nickname.

    Calamity Jane — She was the inspiration for Michelle Rene’s HOURGLASS novel.

    While the men were wrestling in the streets and shooting up the place, it was really the women who brought civilization to Laramie and Wyoming Territory. They established the first school in 1869, served on a formal jury in the Spring of 1870,  and were the first to gain the vote; which is exactly what Louisa Swain and 92 of her friends did on September 6, 1870 –150 years ago!

    Louisa Swain, the first woman to cast a ballot and she did it in Laramie, Wyoming!

    Louisa Swain – she was made of stern stuff!

    Early in the morning on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming Louisa Swain became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot under democratically enacted laws granting women equal political rights with men. In the fall of 2008, 138 years later, the U.S. Congress passes a resolution proclaiming September 6th as “Louisa Swain Day” in recognition of this historic event.The Louisa Swain Foundation

    In 1870, Esther Hobart Morris (59 years old) became the first female Justice of the Peace. She served in South Pass City, Wyoming, which is to the northwest of Laramie.

    Esther Morris "to pettifoggers she showed no mercy." Wyoming Tribune
    Esther Morris, first female Justice of the Peace — Wyoming

    Esther Morris “to pettifoggers she showed no mercy.” Wyoming Tribune

    The Union’s first all-female jury was assembled in Wyoming in 1870.

    Later, in 1894, Estelle Reel Meyer became Superintendent of Public Instruction, the country’s first female statewide elected official.

    And the grand coup d’etat was when in 1889 when Wyoming vied for statehood—and refused to join the Union if the laws giving equality to women were not upheld, telling Congress (which wanted the suffrage law rescinded) via telegram,

    “We will remain out of the Union 100 years rather than come in without the women.”

    Wyoming is also the first state in the USA to allow women to own property and sign legal documents.

    In 1910, Mary Godat Bellamy became the first woman to be elected to the Wyoming Legislature. Two other western states, Colorado and Idaho, elected women legislators in 1895 and 1899, respectively. Wyoming was third in the nation.

    Quotes are from the Smithsonian Magazine
    Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/women-voting-wyoming-150-years-here-how-state-celebrating-180971263/#6UKzMfMeCQsmbIIQ.99
    Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
    Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

    {https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/brief-history-laramie-wyoming}

     

  • HEART-SCARRED by Theo Czuk – Literary Western, Coming of Age

    HEART-SCARRED by Theo Czuk – Literary Western, Coming of Age

    Author Theo Czuk provides a refreshing wave of storytelling in his award-winning literary Western debut novel, Heart-Scarred.

    Rory Casso works as a shotgun freighter with the Pinkerton Detective Agency alongside his partner, Juke Bauque, running capital (i.e., money, furs, gold) up and down the Platte for the Reynolds Savings and Loan payroll. Because bandits lay traps along the way, the partners travel separately. Rory, who lived among the Hunkpapa Indian tribe when he was a boy, uses his skill of trail scouting to keep away from the gang. Juke may be part Native American, but he isn’t familiar with indigenous skills since he was “privately tutored and socially cultured.”

    Enter Bronwyn Mason, a childhood friend of Rory’s who plans to open the first one-room school house in Rawlings. Although she hasn’t seen Rory in years, Bronwyn is relieved to meet Rory’s partner, Juke so that she can hire him to be one of her drivers to transport three wagon loads of school material. Bronwyn’s joy about establishing a school house quickly turns to sorrow when she hears that the Thompson gang murdered her father, the esteemed Marshal Isham Mason. Even though she is grief-stricken, she is determined to fulfill her mission. Bronwyn’s traveling band faces various calamities en route, especially when they get held up by Indian warriors. What she doesn’t expect is that the person who comes to the rescue is none other than Rory. Romance blooms between the childhood friends and all appears to go well until the Thompson gang catches up with them.

    Western enthusiasts in search of a refreshing take on their favorite genre have much to look forward to in Czuk’s award-winning novel. Czuk adds verisimilitude to his story by incorporating a host of realistic characters. Veering away from stereotypes, Czuk presents protagonists that mimic the educational and societal waves taking place during the mid to late 1800s.

    Czuk creates three different people from three different educational backgrounds. Rory is a white man whose comes from a dysfunctional home but finds stability living among Native Americans. Juke, who is half black and half Native American, is brought up in the cultural surroundings of Boston—the antithesis of what would traditionally come out of western tribes. Bronwyn—who learned everything she needed to know about life through her father—in many respects reflects an “Annie Oakley” figure, but much more feminine.

    There is more to the Old West than being chock-full of rough and tough characters. Much of the gruff personas came from merely surviving day to day. Czuk aptly weaves in plenty of historical information that shines a light on the differences of what life was like between the eastern and western territories. While pointing out Native American history (including connections with Ireland during the Great Potato Famine), Czuk gives attention to education, or the lack thereof, especially in the West, and thus Bronwyn’s desire to develop a one-room schoolhouse.

    Czuk offers a well-balanced mix of storytelling, history, engaging dialogue, and thought-provoking themes that go beyond the good, bad and the ugly in his novel, “Heart-Scarred.”