A MAN OF TWO WESTS: CHARLES G. WEST'S THE FIRST DAY TO ETERNITY

The First Day Of Eternity is the second installment of Charles G. West's Hunters saga. The first book in the series, Hell and Gone, sets up the legend of Cody Hunter, orphaned at the age of four from a Sioux attack on his family's wagon train rescued and raised by The Crow and named Crazy Wolf. Cody went by both names, working as a scout in their war with The Lakota. That book ended on a cliffhanger with Cody learning his white father and brothers could be alive. The First Day OF Eternity begins with his search for them.

He rides through Montana Territory to where the wagon train was headed. Along the way, he rescues a damsel in distress from a band of ruffians. The damsels proves both capable in her own right as well as a love interest for Cody.

He learns that there is a Hunter family with a ranch in the Bitterroot Valley, The Triple H. Outside of the ranch, he runs into some men riding for the Double K, run by rivals of the Hunters, The Kincaids. The confrontation ends in gunsmoke and a body draped over Cody's horse. His Crow dress gets him mistaken for an indian and a not so warm welcome at the Triple H. Cody decides to keep his relationship to his father and brothers a secret to them, until he knows how they feel about the people who raised him They hire him on and he learns the ways of the cowboy as he practices his way with the gun as the range war with the Kincaids escalates.

West's storytelling craft gives an interesting balance to the book. He creates an epic sweep with several characters, side aventures, and subplots, keeping it in control through the focus on Cody. Even when the story switches a P.O.V., even to the Kincaids, it is clean and crisp.

The story both adds on to the legend of Cody Hunter/Crazy Wolf as it humanizes him. He contains many traits of the classic hero, proving to be someone as both capable and counted on to do the right thing. West even plays on the returns of the prodigal in this book. It's that background that also leads to a more human and complex character. He struggles to find his place in the world, coming from two sides of it and has a quiet yearning for acceptance that is often challenged when people see him in those Crow buckskins.

The First Day Of Eternity is an epic western told with paperback economy. It gives us heroes, six-guns, and sweep in a tight, well paced fashion. I look forward to see what he has next for cody Hunter and his family.