Calamity Jane — Bernard Schopen

After publishing The Iris Deception, the final of his three Jack Ross detective novels, in 1996, Bernard Schopen's literary voice went quiet. Nearly two decades later that voice makes a distinctive return with Calamity Jane, a novel that takes a hard look at the realities of rural and ranching Nevada while also examining the enduring myths of the West.

Calamity Jane is not a detective novel, but there are mysteries here and fans of Schopen will recognize connections to his earlier work. Set somewhere in the arid basin and range wilds east of Reno and north of Las Vegas, Calamity Jane is told through the private journal of retired high school English teacher Winnifred Westrom, long-time resident of Blue Lake and a keen observer with a stake in the story.

This is grown-up fiction, asking serious questions about the fate and future of the West and exploring ideas as big as the Great Basin it inhabits. At the same time, it is storytelling worthy of the Western movies and pulp fictions it admires. Bernard Schopen in Calamity Jane is an old dog up to new tricks.