Overview
It is 1877. All over the American West, frontier towns have sprung up, drawing people in search of new beginnings after the Civil War. Among these towns, Payday is a paradise of rolling meadows and balmy skies, with a quiet population of ranchers and merchants. Into this Eden comes young editor Sam Flint, whose newspaper, The Payday Pioneer, earns him friends with the town and trumpets Payday's glories throughout the West.
Sure enough, The Payday Pioneer lures settlers to the town. But to Sam's dismay, they are settlers of the wrong kind. Soon, Flint finds himself in the middle of an all-out war for control of the town. Perfect Payday is in danger. But Sam Flint is willing to put his life on the line for what he believes in.
Editorials
Library Journal
The fledgling frontier town of Payday nestles at the foot of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. The air is fresh, the grass and water are plentiful, and Sam Flint is starting his newspaper, The Payday Pioneer, at the behest of the local merchants. Flint will lure settlers to the new town by advertising it as a veritable Garden of Eden, but he will not compromise his editorial standards and become a pawn. Payday is comprised primarily of men who fought in the Civil War, and the division still stands, with saloons on the north and the south sides of the street. The merchants hope to attract families to homestead in the area, but the first settlers are met with resistance from rancher Col. Clayton Buell. Patrick Cullen reads with a clear, steady voice, providing more vocal distinctions among the characters as the book progresses. However, the packaging leaves much to be desired in a circulating tape. Recommended for Cullen's reading expertise only.--Melanie C. Duncan, Washington Memorial Lib., Macon, GAKirkus Reviews
The first volume of an emerging trilogy tracing the adventures of Sam Flint, intrepid frontier newspaperman.Lured by a civic committee headed by the city's chief entrepreneur, Judge Cutlip, to the frontier hamlet of Payday, Arizona, Flint is enticed to stay on by what is described throughout as an Edenic setting—a place offering perfect climate, good land, and honest people. The townsfolk hope Flint's newspaper, The Payday Pioneer, will entice more settlers to come, ensuring a prosperous future. Though doubtful, the young editor sets to work and succeeds beyond anyone's expectations. But complications soon arise as established cattlemen resist the encroachment of sheepmen and farmers on the previously open range. Things get even more complex when the attractive young wife of a missing rancher captures Flint's heart. Moreover, his dedication to editorial integrity soon gains him the ire not only of the profit-minded merchants but also of the county's most powerful rancher. All conflicts are set aside, however, when Flint's efforts begin to attract a nefarious element and the town fills with thugs, hired gunmen, and even an evil madam, Odie Racine, who's bent on extortion. Racine's malevolence forces Payday's citizens to join forces with the crusading editor, putting aside personal concerns as they fight to save their town. Though his characters never rise off the page, and the action is somewhere on a par with 1950s TV horse operas, Wheeler (Sierra, 1996, etc.) uses rather than merely displays his knowledge of the period, its details, and its attitudes.
The Flint series will be a welcome addition to the reading lists of younger western fans, and a happy find for all those who prefer more traditional forms of the genre.