Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Heaven’s Thunder: A Colorado Saga
Author: Mary Ellen Dennis (A.K.A. Denise Dietz)
Publisher: Five Star
ISBN-13: 978-1-43282-501-0
Release Date: May 2011
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
Year/Setting: Colorado 1893-1913
Overall Rating: 3.5
Sexual Content Rating: Subtle/Sensual
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: Mild/Moderate
Violent Content Rating: Moderate/Intense
Mary Ellen's Website/Blog: www.denisedietz.com
Dear Readers:
This is one of those books where you’re not quite sure how to begin…
First, readers meet up with a young woman by the name of Bertha Smith. This is a girl whose father had always wished she was a boy - like her brother, Georgie. Georgie is really the only friend Bertha ever had, who wanted nothing more than to help his sister and get her away from their disgusting father who wants her in a very non-fatherly way. When Georgie heads to Colorado to find his millions in gold, he brings Bertha with him. Unfortunately, Georgie is killed and Bertha is left to her own devices, working as a whore in a brothel to keep herself alive.
One of her clients is Ned. Ned is another disgusting human being who is part of the KKK, gets kicked out of his University in Texas, and wants nothing more than to go back to Colorado and take his father out. You see, Ned’s father and family is very rich, and Ned wants to find his own gold so that he can become bigger and greater than his disapproving father ever thought he’d be. He uses Bertha, leaving her with child, and disappears.
Bertha passes away during labor, leaving one of her best friends to raise the young girl. The child’s name is Fool’s Gold Smith, and her life ends up being tied with a young named John "Cat" McDonald, who is the product of an outlaw named Cherokee Bill who John’s mother had an affair with. Into the world of silent movies, the reader is taken, as Fool’s Gold turns into "Flower Smith" and ends up as a beloved silent-film star; while John "Cat" becomes a rodeo star and a silent-film hero. Add a pampered granddaughter named Kate Lytton into the mix, and the plot becomes even more "out there" with each page.
Although the author certainly offers readers a story filled with emotion, and an in-depth look at relationships between siblings and husbands and wives - bringing readers into everything from parlor rooms to whore houses to mansions of the filthy-rich - the book becomes a little drawn-out, and slightly tedious.
Until next time,
Amy
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