The Foreign Service Journal, November 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2021 63 was killed by wolves. Snuffy and Dog become inseparable, and play an important role in warding off attackers—of which there are many in the 13 books that compose this series. The action-packed series is distinctive for the characters portrayed and for the larger issues the author explores. In Showdown at Shiloh Caleb helps the new owner of Bear Creek’s hardware store track down a shipment of merchandise that went missing. The tenth and eleventh volumes of the Caleb Johnson series were also published this year: Murder and Mayhem in the Mountains , in which Johnson attends a convention of mountain men from across the West and Canada who want to organize to protect their way of life from the encroachment of city folks, and This Land Is Mine , in which Caleb and Flora return home to Bear Creek to find that a shady newcomer is bent on amassing the largest spread in the area. Bass Reeves: The Indomitable Lawman—Volume 2 Charles Ray, independently published, 2021, $10.99/paperback, e-book available, 352 pages. The Indomitable Lawman is the second volume in Charles Ray’s series offering a richly textured, fictional- ized account of the life of Bass Reeves (1838-1910), a deputy U.S. marshal who worked in Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) for 30 years. In his introduction, the author reminds us that Reeves, born a slave, could neither read nor write English—but he spoke six Native American languages and could recall everything someone read to him. The book’s dedication truly says it all: “To the men like Bass Reeves, who served the country even as it often failed to serve them. May they always be remembered.” Volume 1 contains three stories: “Bass and the Preacher,” “The Marshal and the Madam” and “Renegade Roundup.” The second installment has four tales: “The Red River Queen,” “The Shaman’s Curse,” “Fatal Encounter” and “Ma Barker’s Boy.” Danger and Romance in Foreign Lands Stephen Eisenbraun, Dorrance Publishing, 2021, $38/paperback, 212 pages. The narrator of these fictional adven- tures is a retired New York Times foreign correspondent named Scott Higgins, now in his mid-70s and looking back over his life before his memories fade. (Any resemblance to the author is purely intentional, of course.) Higgins now teaches history at Sweetbriar College, but before that, he was shot at while covering a story in Bangladesh, was almost burned alive by a furious mob in Pakistan, fell deeply in love with the most exquisite woman in New Delhi, and had dozens of other memorable experiences, mostly in South Asia. Stephen E. Eisenbraun is a retired FSO (see also memoirs on p. 50). Roman Count Down: A Rick Montoya Italian Mystery David P. Wagner, Poisoned Pen Press, 2019, $15.99/paperback, e-book available, 232 pages. Although this novel is the sixth installment in the Rick Montoya series, it is actually a prequel, in which the title character comes to Rome to launch a translation business. While Rick is exploring the Eternal City, eager to soak up more of his Italian mother’s culture, his maternal uncle, a Roman cop, pulls him into an investigation of the murder of Count Umberto Zimbardi. Note the pun in the book’s title.) It seems that the wealthy count enjoyed indulging a circle of convivial friends and collecting oral histories by interviewing residents of the city’s historic center. After heading home from the latter pursuit one afternoon, Zimbardi is found dead on a bridge over the Tiber. As a newcomer and an investigator, Rick makes rookie mistakes. After all, he’s not only learning the ropes as an amateur sleuth, but discovering that living in Rome is different from visiting. It doesn’t help that a woman keeps pressing him into service as a tour guide, and he must also handle the