Official Review: The Outlaw and His Family Series

[Caroline Anne Richmond]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Outlaw and His Family Series" by Judy Ingram.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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The Outlaw and His Family Series, by Judy Ingram, is a fictional novel and a collection of stories involving the family and subsequent generations of William Jefferson. Written for a younger audience, the author dedicates her writing to all young adults looking for happiness. The book is a character-driven, Christian novel, with the story beginning just after the American Civil War.

After serving in the war, William Jefferson returns to his homestead in Georgia. He returns to a ravaged farm, and he is outraged to find everything he owned had been stolen, also his home burnt to the ground. In his fury, he raises his fist in the air and exclaims that he will get back all that belongs to him.

Travelling away from his vandalized home, he runs into two brothers, Josh and Shane. They too have lost all they once had and are full of anger and rage. Together they form a plan to seek revenge for their losses. The trio becomes a formidable team of stagecoach robbers, successfully stealing money for many years. To avoid over-exposure, William travels to Mexico and finds the love of his life, Angelina. The love-struck pair get married and have many children. The novel describes the lives of these children and their offspring, beginning with them moving from Mexico to America in pursuit of a better life, where Christian values are a priority.

From one principal character, the author creates a huge lineage, with many intertwining friends and family relations. The family moves to America from Mexico with nothing, creating a home and a community that grows and prospers throughout the series. As the collection is character-based, there isn’t a complicated plot, many of the pages comprise of conversations and everyday situations the characters find themselves in.

Much of the collection revolves around characters finding their romantic partners, getting married and having children. The common theme is that each character will follow God and strive to live a Christian existence. With most of this book concentrating on these ideals, it becomes tedious and repetitive. The parts that held my attention more were the tragic parts, including illnesses and deaths.

There is heavy religious content included, and the conversations between characters are unnatural. Most conversations between characters include religion and doing what is correct. I think it may have been refreshing if some characters made some mistakes, didn’t do everything perfectly, and were more human. With this in mind, the book is very old-fashioned and may not engage young readers. I found the stereotypical gender roles mentioned throughout the text counterproductive and not a useful message for young people.

Throughout the book, there are many spelling and grammar mistakes. This hindered the enjoyment and flow of the book. I think it would be helpful to be professionally edited again. I also found it strange that there were some illustrations in the last part of the book, but absent from the series beforehand.

Because of the many issues mentioned regarding this book, I rate it 1 out of 4 stars. I found the plot-line very simple, the characters hard to relate to, and I didn’t enjoy the excessive amount of religious content. The one part that appealed to me was the building of family and community, and the sentiment that hard work and wonderful spirit can lead to a prosperous future and a happy family.

The book contains no profanity or sexual themes and is suited to teenagers and young adults who enjoy Christian literature, set in older times. The book strives to advocate a particular way of living being the route to happiness, but doesn’t embrace the diversity and many facets of a multi-cultural world. If you like old-fashioned reminiscence, this may be up your street.

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The Outlaw and His Family Series
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