High Grass Valley

High Grass Valley was the last book William MacLeod Raine was working on when he died, and it was finished by Wayne D. Overholser. William Raine was one of the few western writers to be born as the forward in the book says, "he was there when the guns went off". For his novels are full of authenticity like very few others. High Grass Valley is a mining story. When the claim of lead character Tom MacNeill is called a nuisance by Colonel Johnston, a man with vast holdings who wants more, Tom challenges back by saying if it wasn't for the Colonel's miners digging into other people's adjacent veins the Colonel's mine would be a worthless hole in the ground. This novel is what a western novel is all about and should be; this is one of Bill Raine's best and Mr. Overholser's conclusion is right on; something I am sure William MacLeod Raine would have approved of.