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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>This prequel to the award winning novel MARIANO'S CROSSING tells the story of the earlier life of Mariano Medina as he discovers the source of the overwhelming fear of conflict that has plagued him since childhood.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>When young Mariano Medina witnesses a vicious attack on a girl he adores, he flees in inexplicable terror. Fifteen years later, as a grown man training horses along the Oregon Trail, he has a chance to redeem himself if he can overcome his cowardly urge to flee. His choice will lead Medina back to the land of his childhood, where he must confront his darkest fears and uncover the hidden source of his panic in the ghostly stare that haunts his dreams.<br /> This is the story of a man's quest for courage, respect and love in an unforgiving land. Based on real characters who lived on the frontier during the lead up to America's 1846 war with Mexico, David M. Jessup has woven a spellbinding prequel to his award-winning first novel, MARIANO'S CROSSING.</p> <p>Praise For MARIANO'S CHOICE: </p> <p>MARIANO'S CHOICE is one of those rare, wonderful books that sticks in the mind and heart long after you've read the last page. Masterfully paced...it offers an intriguing snapshot of the West through the eyes of characters largely ignored by mainstream fiction. --Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author of Spider Woman's Daughter and Rock With Wings.</p> <p>Jessup adds flesh and blood to the bones of one of the West's legendary mountain men in this tightly wound novel of the Old West.--Sandra Dallas, New York Times best-selling author.</p> <p>Jessup is a master historian and writer. In vivid and gorgeous prose, we encounter the world of the late 1800s and the men and women who literally shaped the West. I<br /> loved it.--Laura Pritchett, winner of the PEN USA Award for Fiction, author, Red Lightning.<br /> .<br /> MARIANO'S CHOICE isn't your typical Western, and Mariano Medina isn't your typical Western hero. the result is a richer, more realistic interpretation than the overwrought, <br /> myth-driven view we see in so many Western novels.--Rod Miller, three-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award.</p> <p>Author David Jessup's fluid, compelling prose takes the reader back to another time, to share Mariano Medina's adventures and adversities.--Lucia St. Clair Robson, New York Times best-selling author, Owen Wister Award winner, Western Writers<br /> of America.<br /> <br /> Jessup's cinematic eye for detail and his gift for gut-wrenching, heart-pounding storytelling pulls us seamlessly into a world of danger, beauty, and unbounded possibility.<br /> --Gary Schanbacher, winner of the Langum Award for American Historical Fiction.</p> <p>The plot is riveting. The historical basis just adds to it. If MARIANO'S CROSSING was an award-winning first effort, Mariano's Choice, the prequel, should join it on the<br /> judges' stand.--Denny Dressman, author of eight books and President of the Colorado Authors' League</p> <p> </p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>Shortened reviews MARIANO'S CHOICE is one of those rare books that sticks in the mind and heart long after you've read the last page. Masterfully paced and filled with fascinating historic details, it offers a snapshot of the West through the eyes of characters largely ignored by mainstream fiction: fur traders, Indian captives, dislocated Spanish settlers, horse trainers and trail blazers. The underlying themes of honor, compassion, revenge, and the power of love and friendship, transcend setting and genre. The book shines brightly because of a vulnerable, wily, complicated Spanish Mountain Man-one of the most interesting protagonists I've encountered in a long time. Highly recommended.-Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author. David M. Jessup adds flesh and blood to the bones of one of the West's legendary mountain men. Mariano Medina has not one choice, but many, as he stands up to violence and prejudice-and to his own cowardice. He must choose between fear and friendship, safety and honor, and loyalty and love in this tightly wound novel of the Old West.-Sandra Dallas, New York Times best-selling author. Jessup is a master historian and writer-and this novel proves it. What mesmerizes is the depth of understanding and love of the West. In MARIANO'S CHOICE, we discover the peoples who are often minimalized by mainstream historical fiction but are essential to understanding the real and varied West. In vivid and gorgeous prose, we encounter the world of the late 1800s and the men and women who literally shaped the West. We also find a tale of love and the power of redemption. History, place, love, forgiveness, healing: this book has it all. -Laura Pritchett, winner of the PEN USA Award for Fiction, author, Red Lightning. This isn't your typical Western. And Mariano Medina isn't your typical Western hero. Rather than fearless and invincible, he is timid, often uncertain, and occasionally cowardly. Medina and other historical Westerners serve the author well as he spins a gritty, sometimes painful tale of an ordinary man facing change as the fur trade gives way to immigrant wagons and the U.S. seeks increasing influence on the Mexican frontier. The Old West is seen through the eyes of a regular frontiersman-a richer, more realistic interpretation, not the overwrought, myth-driven view we see in so many Western novels.-Rod Miller, three-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award. This book continues the saga of Mariano Medina, a man both ordinary and extraordinary. Jessup's fluid, compelling prose takes the reader back to share Medina's adventures and adversities. -Lucia St. Clair Robson. New York Times best selling author of Ride the Wind, and winner of the Owen Wister award of the Western Writers of America. Here is a bold story of the West as it existed before the Western, a story of a raw land populated by rugged folk, men and women, native and immigrant. Jessup's cinematic eye for detail and his gift for gut-wrenching, heart-pounding storytelling pulls us into a world of danger, beauty, and unbounded possibility-for success and failure, for betrayal and redemption, for love and hate, and for life and death.-Gary Schanbacher, author of Crossing Purgatory, winner of the Langum Award for American Historical Fiction. What strikes me first about MARIANO'S CHOICE is Jessup's writing. Elegant isn't a word one would usually associate with a novel of the 1800s, yet that's what comes to mind. I'm taken by the pace of the story, and the authenticity of the characters. The plot is riveting. The historical basis just adds to it. If MARIANO'S CROSSING was an award-winning first effort, MARIANO'S CHOICE should join it on the judges' stand.-Denny Dressman, author of eight books and President of the Colorado Authors' League.<br>

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