by Mike Blakely
Santa Anna would fight on. This war was not ending. It was just going on and on.
The Lassie slammed into another wave, dousing Grant in cold water. Suddenly he thought of swimming a flooded Gravois Creek. How Julia had laughed when she saw him in her brother’s clothes, too small for his gangling frame. He had been so afraid to propose to her. And her answer! He would never forget it: “Married? No! But, Sam, I think it would be quite charming to be engaged.”
He found himself smiling into the hard rain that had just begun to fall. He had a reason to endure: Julia. This war had to end someday. He would resign his commission with honor. He would return to White Haven to collect his beloved bride. He would whisk her away to a secluded arbor and take her into his arms, gaze into her eyes, kiss her soft lips.
And then there would be a lavish wedding, peace and a normal life together. There would be children, honest work to do, a home of their own. They would have a pet dog and he and Julia would take afternoon tea on the piazza. He would humor her by listening to her tell of premonitions that came to her in dreams. He would hold her hand and they would talk about the tour around the world that they would enjoy together someday.
And the killing and the bleeding and the dying and the suffering would fade away. The hate and the meanness would sift out of his soul and become a thing of the past. And they would tell their children’s children how Grandmother had once said she didn’t want to be married but thought being engaged sounded quite charming.
I have a reason to live. I must survive. This war will not deprive me of my love for Julia.
He grasped the gunwale with eagle talons. The bursting crest of a whitecap and a deluge of rain struck him, purifying him. Lightning flashed and cracked. He glared ahead and spat into the wind. His teeth gnashed and he growled. He would never back up. He would move forward. Always forward. He would endure anything and everything for love. And that would make Julia all the more precious to hold.
By Mike Blakely from Tom Doherty Associates
Comanche Dawn
Come Sundown
Dead Reckoning
The Last Chance
Moon Medicine
Shortgrass Song
The Snowy Range Gang
A Song to Die For
Spanish Blood
Summer of Pearls
Too Long at the Dance
Vendetta Gold
What Are the Chances (with Kenny Rogers)
A Sinister Splendor
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MIKE BLAKELY is the author of several novels of the West, including Comanche Dawn and Moon Medicine. His novel Summer of Pearls won the Spur Award for the Best Western Novel in 2001. Blakely makes his home in Marble Falls, Texas. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
To the Reader
Map
Epigraph
Part I: Bugle, Fife, and Drums
Second Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Sarah Childress Polk
John Riley
Sarah Bowman
Brigadier General: Zachary Taylor
President: James: K. Polk
Private: John Riley
President: James K. Polk
Second Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Sarah Bowman
Private: Andrew Singer
Brigadier General: Zachary Taylor
Private: John Riley
Captain: William J. Hardee
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Sarah Borginnes
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Sarah Borginnes
General: Mariano Arista
Captain: Samuel Walker
Part II: Horse, Foot, and Guns
Brigadier General: Zachary Taylor
General: Anastasio Torrejon
Captain: Ephraim Kirby Smith
Brigadier: General Zachary Taylor
Captain: James Duncan
General: Mariano Arista
Brigadier General: Zachary Taylor
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
General: Mariano Arista
Captain: George A. McCall
Captain: Ephraim Kirby Smith
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
General: Mariano Arista
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Sarah Borginnes
Lieutenant: John Riley
President: James K. Polk
General: Antonio López de Santa Anna
Captain: John Riley
Major General: Zachary Taylor
Lieutenant Colonel: Sam Walker
Colonel: John Coffee Hays
Captain: John Riley
Captain: Electus Backus
Second Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Major General: Zachary Taylor
Colonel: Jefferson Davis
Major: Luther Giddings
Major: General Zachary Taylor
Major: Luther Giddings
Lieutenant Colonel: Sam Walker
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
Colonel: John Coffee Hays
Lieutenant Colonel: Sam Walker
Colonel: John Coffee Hays
Major General: Zachary Taylor
Captain: John Riley
President: James K. Polk
Part III: Mountain, Plateau, and Barranca
Major: William Bliss
Captain: John Riley
Private: Samuel Chamberlain
General: Antonio López de Santa Anna
Lieutenant: John Paul Jones O’brien
Private: Samuel E. Chamberlain
Sarah Borginnes
Major: William Bliss
Colonel: Jefferson Davis
Private: Samuel Chamberlain
General: Antonio López de Santa Anna
Major General: Zachary Taylor
Lieutenant: John Paul Jones O’brien
Captain: Speed Smith Fry
General: Zachary Taylor
Colonel: Jefferson Davis
Captain: John Riley
General: Zachary Taylor
Private: Samuel Chamberlain
Lieutenant: Sam Grant
By Mike Blakely from Tom Doherty Associates
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A SINISTER SPLENDOR
Copyright © 2019 by Mike Blakely
All rights reserved.
Cover art by William Maughan
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Blakely, Mike, author.
Title: A sinister splendor / Mike Blakely.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Forge, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018045273 | ISBN 9780765328380 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781429943611 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: War stories.
Classification: LCC PS3552.L3533 S53 2019 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018045273
eISBN 9781429943611
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First Edition: February 2019
