5 stars for The Lonely Spirit by Tamar Anolic #westernfiction #westerns #shortstories #bookreview
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jun 1, 2023
    • 4 min read

5 stars for The Lonely Spirit by Tamar Anolic #westernfiction #westerns #shortstories #bookreview



Title: The Lonely Spirit

Author: Tamar Anolic

Genre: Historical Western Fiction, Western, Western Fiction


Book Blurb:


A B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree The Lonely Spirit won first place (best in category) in the Chanticleer International Book Awards for Short Story Collections and Novellas! The Lonely Spirit is also a winner for historical fiction in the Firebird Book Awards. It was Long Listed for the Historical Fiction Company's Book of the Year Awards, and received the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from the Historical Fiction Company. “This book is exemplary… A quick read with a huge plot that will leave the reader wanting more. Quinn is a great character. The time period of the mid 1800s in the West and the tensions between the Comanches and the Army is well described and adds a wonderful dimension to the story of Quinn…. What a nice read! I didn't know what to expect as I began to read and I enjoyed every aspect of it. The pacing, organization and structure were well executed. You bring the reader right into the heart of the story as Quinn begins his journey to find out who he truly is. His story is so compelling, I was literally turning the pages to find out what happens next. Great job! … Quinn is a fantastic character. He doesn't fit into either world and must forge his own way to discover who he is and where he does belong. He's so well fleshed out and so compelling, I was actually sad when I came to the end. The secondary characters were also well fleshed out and believable. You do a good job creating another character in the Old West itself. You bring the location to life in a vivid way.” Judge, 30th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. The Lonely Spirit is a short story collection sprawled across the Old West. As the only half-Comanche U.S. Marshal, L.S. Quinn straddles two worlds, searching for peace in both.

Quinn is one of the best Marshals, well-respected for finding criminals and bringing them to justice. His adventures pit him against criminals like Florence Finnegan, the famous brothel owner and gunslinger, and Jack Mattherson, whose attack on U.S. Senator William Quincy brings out Quinn’s desire for revenge. But Quinn isn’t always lucky: when one of his partners turns into his enemy on a lonely stretch of land, Quinn no longer knows whom to trust.

The fight between the Comanche and the United States Army is never far from Quinn’s mind, either. When the Army kills his fiancée, Quinn must rebuild his life, even as he finds himself a lasting enemy in Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, a respected Civil War veteran.

But Quinn’s journeys also bring him into contact with kindness he does not anticipate in such a wild land. To his surprise, sympathy comes in the form of Colonel Robert Graypool, whose level-headed command of the Comanche reservation at Fort Sill brings out Quinn’s respect when he least expects it. Humanity also resides in Dr. Mary Newcomb, one of the few women physicians of the day. In both of them, Quinn finds some of the community for which he searches.


My Review:


The completion of this collection of short stories has breathed fresh air into a timeless genre. As one who has read dozens of Zane Grey and grew up on The Lone Ranger and Bonanza, I am very familiar with western fiction. This author gives emotion to the tried-and-true western format. The reader can feel the depth of the core of The Lonely Spirit and it fleshes out this work into a western fiction classic. A tale that rewards the reader by going from start to finish.

Told in stories that were literally, it seems, years apart in writing, the book still flows remarkably well. A tuned eye might see subtle differences from the first story to the ones later but that simply shows a kind of maturity that happens when a writer is long at their craft. The differences in the inner workings of LS Quinn make the book more readable. As a reader, you feel you grow with LS as he grows.


A well-crafted approach to a genre that could use a breath of fresh air. Fans of traditional western fiction will enjoy this book. The action scenes are very well written. Fans of today’s western fiction will like this too. The emotive approach to character creation will draw the reader in. A lovely work that is a very enjoyable read.


My Rating: 5 stars


Buy it Now:

Free to read on Kindle Unlimited!








Author Biography:


Tamar is a writer who specializes in historical fiction and military fiction. Her short stories have been published in The Copperfield Review, The Sandy River Review, The Helix, Foliate Oak, Frontier Tales, Pen In Hand, Evening Street Review, Every Day Fiction and The Magazine of History and Fiction.


Tamar's historical books focus on the Old West and the Romanovs. Her short story collection The Lonely Spirit follows half-Comanche Marshal L.S. Quinn across the Old West. This book has won an Indie Brag Medallion, was a winner for Historical Fiction in the Firebird Book Awards, has been long listed for the Historical Fiction Company's Book of the Year Awards, and received the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from the Historical Fiction Company.


Tamar's most recent book on the Romanovs is Tales of the Romanov Empire, which has been long listed for the Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction, and been long listed for the Historical Fiction Company's Book of the Year Awards. Her other books about the Romanovs are The Russian Riddle, a nonfiction biography, and the novels Triumph of a Tsar, Through the Fire, and The Imperial Spy.


Tamar's military fiction includes the novel The Last Battle, about a female veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and The Fledgling’s Inferno, science fiction about a gene that runs in military families and causes superpowers.


Tamar's other contemporary novels her most recent novel, Two Sisters of Fayetteville, as well as The Fourth Branch.


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Reviewed by: Mr. N

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