Review of ROD

[Timothy Rucinski]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "ROD" by Robert Millon.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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I like gritty westerns. I like western novels that strive to show how life in the old west actually was, not how Hollywood portrayed it. So when I read the description of Rod by Robert Millon, I said to myself, “Well, this sure sounds like a gritty western.” And gritty it is.

The plot of Rod is much like other novels, non-westerns alike. The terrain is familiar, but the story is a good one. Forced from his Texas home when his father's ranch is ransacked and burned to the ground by Tom Hardin, Rod Morgan returns to Prairie Rock several years later to avenge his murdered father and rightly reclaim his land. Rod's naivete is on full display upon his arrival, openly touting his reason for returning to town despite admonitions from townsfolk not to be foolish. Unfortunately, young Rod is forced to grow up the hard way, as he is nearly killed in a gunfight. However, the young man becomes a catalyst for change for a populace tired of kowtowing to Hardin and his gang. As the novel progresses, the townsfolk and ranchers coalesce into the Citizen's Freedom Committee, determined to rid the land of criminals.

Rod is filled with what you would expect in a western. There are shootouts aplenty, barroom brawls, and journeys across panoramic vistas. But Rod is also peppered with the horrors of the old west in which innocent people are killed for a vicarious thrill, Native Americans and Mexicans are ridiculed and murdered, homes are burned regardless of occupancy, and corrupt provincial government lets nothing stand in the way of power and greed. There are brutal scenes of carnage reminiscent of the novels by Cormac McCarthy. Yet, these incidents are necessary to support the plot.

The book has many great characters besides Rod Morgan, the single-minded stoic. Newspaperman Ned Fletcher is an impressive civic organizer and head of the Citizen's Freedom Committee. Tom Hardin and his lieutenant, the gunslinger Bill Johnson, provide just the right amount of menace. Andy Needham is a blacksmith with a heart of gold. And Shirley Roberts is Rod’s love interest, a young woman not so stereotypically sweet and demure that she can’t effectively handle a shotgun.

The book's central theme is Rod's desire to prove himself to be a man. He left Prairie Rock as a boy and trained in gunmanship with relatives so that he could return and seek his revenge. I was reminded of any novel in which a character's sense of masculinity gets in the way of common sense, patience, and love. He is so consumed by hate that when a vagrant catches a glance of the young man and turns tail, the author writes, "Was the hatred eating at him so potent it could scare a drunk on the other side of the street?" The book is also about teamwork and how a central idea can bring an entire disparate group together with crystal clear focus. It was enjoyable watching the residents of Prairie Rock meld into a formidable opposition. Furthermore, I am pleased that Millon didn’t relegate the novel’s women to the background, making them strong, determined, and just as competent as the men when employing the necessary skills and energy to reclaim their homes.

Unfortunately, there are several things wrong with the book. First, it is poorly formatted for electronic consumption. It is also loaded with grammatical errors and typos. I almost put the novel down before I read a couple of pages because there is no differentiation in paragraphs, no indentations, and no separation of chapters, with many sentences breaking before the end of the line. I had to scrunch up the Kindle view as small as possible to try and discern where one paragraph ended and the next began. However, I'm glad I continued reading because I liked the story.

If you are partial to westerns, especially the gritty kind, you'll like the story if you can get through the poor formatting. I hope the author will revisit his book and have it duly repaired so that many more readers will dive in for a good read. However, if you are turned off by brutality, including the murder of babies, this book may not be for you.

I award Rod a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. The story is good, but I had to take off a point for the bad formatting and another for the extraordinary number of typographical and grammatical errors. So, Mr. Millon, please fix this text. It's too good of a story for devotees of westerns not to read.

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ROD
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[Elina Tshabalala]

I hope Rod was able to claim what was rightfully his but I am concerned about his approach and loud mouth. Thanks for the review!

[Oluchi23]

I like your description about this titled book ROD and I believe it will be interesting to me too. I will add the book to my bookshelf ASAP. To read it too. Nice review.

[Timothy Rucinski]

I like your description about this titled book ROD and I believe it will be interesting to me too. I will add the book to my bookshelf ASAP. To read it too. Nice review.

Thanks very much for your kind words. It's a really good story. I just hope that the author fixes the errors to make it more pleasurable for everyone.

[Timothy Rucinski]

I hope Rod was able to claim what was rightfully his but I am concerned about his approach and loud mouth. Thanks for the review!

You are quite welcome. Thanks for commenting.

[Hazel Mae Bagarinao]

I can't take the fact of murdering babies. I think this book is not for me. But I like your review, honest and detailed! Wonderful!