JESS

By Gary Yates

ISBN 0-595-17889-8

iUniverse

Lincoln, Nebraska

2001, paper, 192 pages, $13.95

            Gary Yates opens the door to understanding the life of a modern cowboy. He follows Jess Cogden as he drives his battered pickup around the west, moving from job to job.

            The author of JESS spent many years working as a "hired man on horseback" on large ranches in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, California and Nevada.  His first hand knowledge makes his story of Jess and his reaction to the rancher's abuse of public lands ring true.

            Jess finally realizes he has wandered away half his life with little to show for it.  He finds a job he loves living at a camp by a lake created by a beaver dam.  Mule deer come to the lake to drink and a hawk has made the meadow and the grove of Aspens his hunting ground. In this lonely cow camp Jess puzzles as he remembers the outrageous acts of disregard for public lands and wildlife he has witnessed in his travels. 

            When Jess meets a beauty named Maureen and a charmer named Kathy they work their way into his life and his heart.  He disagrees with and is embarrassed by the attitudes of a few ranchers and their uses of public lands.  His forest ranger friend causes the ranchers trouble and is transferred because of political pressure.  Finally, Jess takes a stand against his anti-environment employer and right in the middle of his own problems Maureen and Kathy disappear.

            This is a great story.  It illuminates an important and pressing problem in the modern west.  Yates has done a good job of making his characters interesting and teaching the critical lessons of protecting the environment in a strong story.  The reader absorbs the "protect the environment" lessons without hurting the flow of the book.  An enjoyable read, interesting plot with characters that are real enough to hold the readers' interest to the very end.

A.H.Holt, editor

WesternFictionReview