Member Deborah Linn (El Dorado) shares her thoughts on The Last Rancher, a contemporary western novel by member Robert Rebin (Indianapolis, IN).
You know that feeling when you join a friend's big family Christmas or Thanksgiving? You are an outsider but are suddenly privy to all the inside jokes and one-liner snarks and back porch smoking sessions and cemented traditions, and it all seems a little too much and not ever enough all at the same time? You feel that maybe you shouldn't be plopped down in the middle of it, but you also experience this unique sense of warmth, so you don't want to leave? Maybe ever?
That's the experience of reading Robert Rebein's The Last Rancher.
The Last Rancher is one of the those character-driven stories that stays with you past the pages. It's the story of three adult children who, due to a medical emergency, are forced to face the reality of aging parents and end up examining the passage of time in their own lives--the passing of dreams and expectations and promises made to self and others.
Adult children Michael and Annie are summoned home to the ranching community of Dodge City, Kansas where their stubborn father, Leroy; their steadfast mother, Caroline; and their baby brother, Jimmy (Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy...smh...) live. Leroy is in the hospital, possibly dying. Michael must take the financial reins while Annie takes the actual reins in order to keep the ranch alive. Jimmy, even though he still lives in Dodge, has too much baggage to come anywhere near anything that looks like reins.
Returning home subjects Michael and Annie to a more realistic view of their lives. Sort of like returning to your old elementary school where everything seems smaller, dirtier, and maybe even a little distorted, Annie and Michael wade through what what perceptions to keep, what to correct, and what to leave behind. The reader can't help but to look inward and wonder the same things about his own life.
As much as this is a character-driven family drama, The Last Rancher is more than that. The author works magic with time and place. The reader is drawn in both by the realistically flawed characters and the portrayal of Dodge City, a modern town holding desperately onto the glory of a past that, in reality, wasn't always so glorious.
Dodge City was and is a place where it's sometimes hard to tell the heroes from the bad guys. Michael, Annie, and Jimmy struggle with this same problem in their own family, even with their own souls. It turns out that Dodge City, Kansas is the perfect setting for a story full of characters searching for a hero and a direction and a home, and maybe even a truth.
There's a little bit of something for every reader in The Last Rancher--sports, cars, horses, violence, romance, drugs, religion, action, introspection, legal drama, family drama, car chases, affairs, loyalty, and love. If you like the Yellowstone series on Netflix, you'll love The Last Rancher. If you like stories with strong female protagonists, you love The Last Rancher. If you like falling in love with bad boys--or bad girls--you'll love The Last Rancher.
That's the experience of reading Robert Rebein's The Last Rancher.
The Last Rancher is one of the those character-driven stories that stays with you past the pages. It's the story of three adult children who, due to a medical emergency, are forced to face the reality of aging parents and end up examining the passage of time in their own lives--the passing of dreams and expectations and promises made to self and others.
Adult children Michael and Annie are summoned home to the ranching community of Dodge City, Kansas where their stubborn father, Leroy; their steadfast mother, Caroline; and their baby brother, Jimmy (Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy...smh...) live. Leroy is in the hospital, possibly dying. Michael must take the financial reins while Annie takes the actual reins in order to keep the ranch alive. Jimmy, even though he still lives in Dodge, has too much baggage to come anywhere near anything that looks like reins.
Returning home subjects Michael and Annie to a more realistic view of their lives. Sort of like returning to your old elementary school where everything seems smaller, dirtier, and maybe even a little distorted, Annie and Michael wade through what what perceptions to keep, what to correct, and what to leave behind. The reader can't help but to look inward and wonder the same things about his own life.
As much as this is a character-driven family drama, The Last Rancher is more than that. The author works magic with time and place. The reader is drawn in both by the realistically flawed characters and the portrayal of Dodge City, a modern town holding desperately onto the glory of a past that, in reality, wasn't always so glorious.
Dodge City was and is a place where it's sometimes hard to tell the heroes from the bad guys. Michael, Annie, and Jimmy struggle with this same problem in their own family, even with their own souls. It turns out that Dodge City, Kansas is the perfect setting for a story full of characters searching for a hero and a direction and a home, and maybe even a truth.
There's a little bit of something for every reader in The Last Rancher--sports, cars, horses, violence, romance, drugs, religion, action, introspection, legal drama, family drama, car chases, affairs, loyalty, and love. If you like the Yellowstone series on Netflix, you'll love The Last Rancher. If you like stories with strong female protagonists, you love The Last Rancher. If you like falling in love with bad boys--or bad girls--you'll love The Last Rancher.
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