Fool's Coach

by Richard S. Wheeler Narrated by Rusty Nelson

Overview

First there is Aristotle Scrimshaw who had left his wife and children on their small farm in Wisconsin to pick up some cash in the bustling goldfields of Virginia City. He had done well, buying up claims and collecting gold worth more than $100,000--but now there is trouble back home and he must get there immediately. Then there is Angelica Ramirez who had left her abusive husband to become the most prosperous madam in the territory-but now she wants to be done with the life and begin anew. Last, there is Professor Randolf Figaro, a Mississippi gambler, who had struck his own kind of pay dirt in Virginia City as well, but now his luck has turned bad. They all need to leave the encampment, but the road out is paved with ruthless road agents eager to plunder their hard earned wealth. Undaunted, Schrimshaw plans a midnight stagecoach run through the bandit-infested wilderness. He, himself calls it a fool's coach but is willing to risk it and will take the others if they dare!

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This mildly diverting western concerns a desperate flight in a broken-down coach from the rough-and-tumble Montana goldfield towns of Alder Gulch and Virginia City, where road agents--highwaymen, bushwackers, thugs--make travel hazardous. While you can make a fortune in this hardbitten territory, you'd better not try to leave town with it. Nevertheless, doughty miner Aristotle Scrimshaw, Professor Randolph Figaro, an honest gambler, and Angelica Ramirez, a whorehouse madame with a heart (and 600 pounds) of gold, have their reasons for decamping. Fortitude Hays and Calvin Creed help fix up a coach and borrow a team to make an unscheduled run for it. Once nefarious characters get wind of the treasure (totaling a hard-to-tote half-ton of gold dust), the travelers are attacked and harassed all along the treacherous coach route. Though plot twists and mounting tension move toward a heartwarming finale, Wheeler's ( Dodging Red Cloud ) dialogue rings hollow, stock characters ``retort'' and ``guffaw'' overmuch and disbelief--present from early on--finally triumphs. (June)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171382667
Publisher:	Books in Motion
Publication date:	04/15/2005
Edition description:	Unabridged

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