Bugles and Blood

LEW EDEN #1

By Ben Bridges and Brent Towns

Bookends, October 2017

Lew Eden was thirteen when he killed his first man. A lot more died at his hand before he finally had his fill of blood and bullets. Then he decided to enlist in the newly-formed Seminole-Negro Scouts, hoping to do what he could to broker peace between white man and red.

But an Indian-hater named Cramer killed Lew’s Sioux woman. After that, Lew wouldn’t rest until he’d put one last man in his grave. But Fate had other ideas. Scouting for General Crook, he was to take part in the Battle of the Rosebud, where the killing started up all over again …

Two well-known authors in the western genre have teamed up to write a series of novels featuring Lew Eden, a scout first met in their Company ‘C’ series, who they’ve now decided to write a spin-off series about.

The Lew Eden books should appeal to all western readers, either those who enjoy purely imaginary tales or those that put fictional characters into true historical events. It’s the latter category that this book falls into.

The book starts with events that see Eden becoming romantically involved with a Sioux woman, Morning Dove after she nurses him to health after he's wounded in a vicious fight saving a well-known Sioux leader from being killed. After six men rape and murder Morning Dove, Eden is consumed with rage and rides out after the killers but he fails in completing his quest for vengeance and one of the killers escapes his justice and Eden finds himself scouting for Crook only to learn that the man he’s hunting is also a soldier but Eden has to keep his anger in check as more important events unfold as the army rides towards the Rosebud.

There has already been plenty of action in this very fast moving tale but the story now becomes one long fight as the soldiers find themselves facing superior numbers of warriors in a battle that they will struggle to come out of alive. 

The story is now told in chapters that are broken by headings that help keep track of which part of the battle is taking place and who is involved. The majority of characters we now read about were real people and the authors also include a lot of historical fact. The skill of the writers comes to the fore as this part of the tale could read like a history lesson but it doesn’t as they blend fact and fiction together seamlessly in a desperate fight for survival.

So does Lew Eden find the last killer of Morning Dove among all the carnage around him? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out. What I will add is that the Battle of the Rosebud may come to some kind of conclusion but the war isn’t over yet and the authors leave the storyline open to ensure the reader will be looking out for the second book in the series, Ride to Glory, to find out what happens next, something I for one am eager to find out.

If you have any interest in the Indian Wars and in particular The Battle of the Rosebud then this is a must read. If you just like action packed westerns that feature soldiers and Indian confrontations then grab yourself a copy of this as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.