Chance #12

WHITE WATER

as by Clay Tanner

Avon, July 1988

When Chance and his old compadre, Sam Clemens (alias Mark Twain), take a New Orleans bound sidewheeler, they’re plundered by river rogues and plunged into the killing currents of the Mississippi. Getting rescued by a raft riding runaway and his friend, a fugitive slave, begins one of the riskiest journeys Chance has ever taken. In fact, with all the deadly entanglements Big Muddy has in store…this could be the stuff great books are made of. Chance just hopes he lives to read it!

The inclusion of Sam Clemens and the runaway on the raft allow for some amusing events and comments, particularly if you’re familiar with Twain’s books.

Halfway through the story it almost seems as if one part of the tale is over and another adventure begins, but George W. Proctor (the author behind the pseudonym of Clay Tanner) cleverly links the two. This in turn leads to an exciting finale that ties up all the loose ends of the first part of the book.

Sadly – for me – this book is the last in the Chance series. Luckily George W. Proctor wrote other westerns too, and most of these sit in my collection waiting to be read.