Blood Kin

In Blood Kin, Isaac Webb, a young Texas ranger, struggles for decency amid the violence of the Texas Revolution and the early days of the Republic. Still in his teens when he joins the legendary ranger captain Noah Smithwick, Isaac discovers in himself extraordinary mettle in battle and a fierce yearning for young war widow Catherine Druin. But victory over Mexico does not bring the new Republic nor Isaac the peace and stability he fought for. Escalating Indian depredations forestall Isaac's hopes to work the farmland he's cleared near Bastrop and to marry Catherine. Pressed into accompanying Smithwick as Sam Houston's peace emissary to the Comanches, Isaac befriends Looks Far, a young warrior at whose side he fends off Waco attacks and with whom he learns to grieve. As the Texans' hunger for land and the Comanches' penchant for raiding imperil Isaac's friendship and thwart peace negotiations, Isaac returns to Bastrop prepared for the worst. When his future with Catherine is confounded by her father's blind hatred of the Comanches and his own commitment to the indomitable Inez, a Lipan captive, Isaac must confront a brutal dilemma and a painful secret. So achingly honest and culturally sensitive is Chappell in his telling of this epic story that every image, every characterization rings true. It is hard to believe that he did not live it himself.