The lure of the wilderness proves irresistible for a young trapper in this glorious American frontier novel, Burke's (Black Flies, 2008, etc.) third. In 1826, civilization ends in St. Louis; beyond is the vast expanse of the prairie. William Wyeth sees in it an invitation. The 22-year-old is looking for adventure, and the fur trade is booming. Wyeth joins a brigade bound for the western mountains, where they will set traps for beaver and muskrat and return with their pelts. The season is interrupted when Wyeth is felled by friendly fire during a buffalo hunt. The incident shatters Wyeth's illusion that he's immortal, but his spirits are restored by his fellow trappers' camaraderie. Recuperating at a U.S. Army encampment, Wyeth meets Alene Chevalier, a part native French-Canadian tanner. After the trapper has another near-death experience, they fall in love, but Wyeth is not ready for domesticity quite yet. The St. Louis dandy Henry Layton is forming a new brigade and offers Wyeth a stake in it. Layton is a complex figure, marvelously well-observed. A bit of a scoundrel, battling his own demons, he is undeniably charismatic. Both Layton and Wyeth will learn that "[t]here is little that ails a manthat is not improved by a season in the mountains." The second expedition, this one on Crow lands (Layton has negotiated a treaty), is all ups and downs. The overbearing Layton risks a mutiny, but the trappers rally behind him when he fearlessly confronts a British brigade leader. Borders are vague and the expansionist Brits, not the natives, are the enemy. The trappers harvest a record number of pelts, but safe passage back is far from assured. Burke includes fine episodes of derring-do, two involving bears, and there is a thrilling climax, but character is his overriding interest, the way it's shaped by tests of endurance in magnificent, alien landscapes. A grand immersion in the past. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Burke's first venture into western fiction (after two novels set in the present, Safelight and Black Flies) is a masterpiece of historical accuracy and exciting storytelling. Set in the 1820s, this bawdy tale of unwashed mountain men and foul-smelling fur trappers follows a 22-year-old tenderfoot named William Wyeth, who is seeking his fortune as a trapper with such real-life notables as Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and Hugh Glass. Wyeth is an idealistic young man, eager to prove his worth to his doubting father, and just as eager to win the affection of Alene Chevalier, the destitute widow of a friend. Then a rival for Chevalier's attention shows up: the unscrupulous Henry Layton, an old enemy of Wyeth's. Layton plans to start his own fur company and invites Wyeth (who needs money) to join, which is too tempting for Wyeth to refuse. Their Market Street Fur Company must compete with other American, British, and French trapping outfits, as well as the Crow and Blackfeet Indians, in western Wyoming's inhospitable Wind River Mountains. Wyeth and his party contend with bear attacks, betrayal, and murder-and not all of them keep their hair. Meanwhile, Wyeth wonders if Alene will still be waiting when he returns from the mountains. This is a raucous tale of a young man's dream colliding with reality, and it also makes an entertaining history of fur trapping. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick & Williams. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

It's 1826. The American West is still wilderness, and William Wyeth is ready to indulge his restless nature and sign on with a fur-trapping outfit. He spends a season in the mountains as a trapper and forms deep friendships with his companions, learning to live with deprivations and danger on the trail. He comes across native encampments, encounters hostile British outposts, joins massive buffalo hunts, gets himself shot, and also finds time for romance. While many vivid events are related here, Burke's (Safelight; Black Flies) third novel is a slower-moving historical narrative, bound to appeal to those who enjoy real-life accounts of opening the West. VERDICT In its realism, the novel echoes Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail and is told in retrospect by an adult William, so any tension about his survival is defused. Rather, readers enjoy a thoughtful reminiscence about the last unrestricted years of the fur trade. There are no cowboys but plenty of Western landscapes, hardworking trappers, and native tribes. This satisfyingly complex portrayal of a Western reality doesn't need white or black hats to engage the reader.-Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Burke, author of contemporary novels Starlight (2004) and Black Flies (2008), delves into the past and traverses a beautiful, savage land in this homage to the American wilderness. When a restless William Wyeth journeys west of St. Louis in 1826, the untamed territory beckons a diverse group of spiritual, political, and financial opportunists. Joining a fur-trapping outfit, he ventures into the wild, experiencing friendship, romance, and conflict in equal measure. The magnificent scenery and sense of place serve as more than a backdrop, taking on the contour of a main character in this beautifully conceived version of frontier life. Steeped in Americana, this gritty testament to the fortunes and foibles of one man moves well beyond classic notions of romantic nationalism, revealing the complex core of a rapidly evolving environmental landscape.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2014 Booklist

Narrated by a young man with a fever to explore, Burke's novel begins in the 1820s and follows a group of American fur trappers west from St. Louis into unconquered native territories. There, British, Spanish and American forces are simultaneously hunting for pelts and surveying the land in preparation for further colonization. A somewhat unsurprising meditation on the salubrious effects of trail life, the book should appeal to hikers: a "Wild" for the young white men of the 1820s. Burke does introduce a few fascinating characters, among them the blackguard Henry Layton, who competes with the narrator for the sole substantive female character's affections. Layton is vain, flawed and given to occasionally abusive behavior toward the other trappers, and his search for manly redemption structures the story. Carefully researched, this exploration novel pays attention to the native nations - in particular the Crow and the Blackfoot - who negotiated with the approaching European powers while they still could. Warmhearted, long-suffering woman: one. Vanishing Indians: not quite yet.