Shoot! FROM THE PUBLISHER
As Jesse James terrorizes the Wild West, the McLean Gang roams Victoria, Canada, striking fear in local communities. The McLean brothers, Allan, Charlie, and Archie, with sidekick Alex Hare, are "breeds," the locals' term for those of mixed white and native blood. Outcasts in both cultures and destined to become outlaws, the McLean Gang rustles cattle, steals guns, and makes trouble. But one frozen morning, these boys cross the line, shooting down two men, one of them the local sheriff, in cold blood. Tracked down by a posse of over a hundred men, the McLeans become trapped in a dilapidated cabin. The gang, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-four, holds the posse at bay for days, surviving on limited food and water.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Cowboys and Indians, outlaws and lawmen, roamed Canada's Old West as well as that of the U.S. Here, Bowering, twice winner of the Canadian Governor General's Award, returns (after Caprice, 1987) to that rugged North with a tale of crime and punishment in the British Columbia of yore. The McLean Gang terrorized Canada's western province in 1879, stealing cattle, horses, guns and whiskey. Half-breeds, the McLean brothers grew up bitter, antisocial outcasts, rejected by both the white and Indian worlds. In Bowering's fictional re-creation of these hard cases' lives, the brothers, fueled by mind-numbing reservation hooch and boasts of retribution, ride out on a wild spree of robbery, rustling and murder. Led by the oldest brother, Allan, the McLeans are a sad gang of misfits eager to become famous outlaws-but without fully understanding why, or the price they will pay for their brief fame. Allan is brooding and dreams of leading an Indian uprising to drive the whites from Native lands. Archie, Alex and Charlie are teenaged gunmen who think only of whiskey, guns and the excitement of outlaw life. Quickly tiring of the McLeans' dangerous game, however, lawmen, bounty hunters and irate ranchers break out their Winchesters and hanging ropes to put an end to the problem. With powerful imagery and crisp narration, Bowers delivers a stinging commentary on the desperation of racism in the harsh environment of the Canadian West. (Jan.)
BookList - Wes Lukowsky
The McLean Gang doesn't quite measure up to the James Gang in the annals of outlaw lore, but it was the scourge of western Canada in the 1870s. In this mesmerizing historical novel, award-winning Canadian author Bowering reveals crime and then to the gallows. The McLeans were "metis", or, as they were known in the States, half-breeds. With no work and no acceptance from either Anglo or Indian society, the McLeans took to thievery, stealing guns, horses, food, and blankets from anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Though the gang was annoying, they weren't a big threat to society until the newspapers began to write about them, and they ended up killing two people. It isn't much of a stretch to find a lesson for our times in this fine, remarkably empathetic historical novel, which portrays four youngsters who turned to crime because they had nowhere else to go and no one else with whom to socialize but other outcasts.
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