To his monastic surprise, he falls in love with a frontier-scarred widow named Mary Mott. When Terrell runs away to the Alamo, Mary follows, and Edmund follows her. Their star-crossed relationship spans the entire book, creating as much tension as the battle itself. When the battle finally does occur, all manner of tragedy unfolds. Here, where lesser writers would dish up the familiar bloodshed and heroism, Harrigan unleashes surprises and unexpected horrors.
Wolves lope through the midnight, sensing the feast to come.
In a nightmarish 40-page scene that could stand alone, there are not cartoonish heroics or patriotic grandstanding, only carnage and broken dreams. Harrigan makes the Alamo worth remembering one more time. He lives in Boulder. Reviews will appear on The Denver Post Online. The Denver Post.