Sudden Country — Loren D. Estleman

13-year-old David Grayle's mother owns a boardinghouse. A strange visitor, Jotham Flynn, fresh out of jail, has come to tell his story to Judge Blod, a writer of dime novels and a boarder at the Grayle home. As it turns out, Flynn has a treasure map that leads to a fortune in gold stolen from the Union Army back in '63 by Quantrill's Raiders, a band of outlaws. Flynn is murdered by a passel of persons unknown, the map falls into David's hands and Judge Blod, David and David's schoolteacher, ex-Union officer Henry Knox, decide to mount an expedition to the Dakota Badlands to recover the gold. Reminiscent of Treasure Island, sprinkled with just the right combination of desperados, oddball characters, and authentic western flair, Sudden Country will draw you into the badlands and hold you ther to the final word.Estleman has no rival in evoking the American Southwest.--Kirkus ReviewsEstleman rivals the finest American novelists.--The Washington Post Book WorldLoren D. Estleman is a four-time Golden Spur Award winner