MONUMENT IN THE STORM
A Town Spawned from the Violence of New Mexico History

“Cavalry, Indians and early settlers leave their tracks across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico in a fast-moving story of adventure, romance, and frontier tragedy. A good yarn.”
      —Elmer Keaton
     
      “Water and history are everything in New Mexico. The first nourishes the body, the latter the soul. John A. Truett has captured the essence of both, proving that a necessity and a reality sometimes add up to the unexpected: violence and love.”
      —Leon C. Metz
     
            “For those readers interested in well-crafted novels of the American West Frontier, with a setting in New Mexico, they will discover an entertaining and enjoyable treat in John A. Truett’s historical novel, Monument in the Storm. The novel has strong and intriguing characters who come alive, with the story of Cassandra, a young woman who marries an Army captain, serving as the focal point for the plot and historical account. During 1875, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Shafter and his Negro Buffalo Soldiers, were dying of thirst on what is identified as the Staked Plains; they discovered a water spring in southwestern New Mexico territory and after surviving their ordeal put in place a ‘monument’ of white rock for future travelers. This became in time, Monument, New Mexico. Truett has a gift for telling a fast-paced story filled with much adventure; his character dialogue is accurate and moves the story along at a good clip. Readers find his characters believable and care about what happens to them next. Truett, a native of Artesia, now makes his home in Roswell after a career in the motion picture industry. Monument in the Storm is a fine novel.”
      —Lee Prosser, FYI Magazine (Roswell, New Mexico)
     
     
            “While this novel lacks the slick polish of ‘big’ publishing, it deserves a wider circulation. The saga of Cassandra ‘Cass’ Vosburg, in her thirty-plus-year odyssey in Texas and New Mexico, as an Army wife who loses her first husband to Comanches, and her second, a New Mexico rancher, to Apaches, was not at all an uncommon story in the American West. Truett has done his research well, and the historical characters are portrayed as history indicates they were, neither demonized nor lionized. That only one woman might have suffered all the trials and travails that beset the heroine in this novel—and survived them—might seem impossible to a modern reader, but in fact many frontier women suffered as much as Cass and far more, survived, and to some extent prospered. This is not a novel for the squeamish, nor is it a novel for those who prefer ‘Lo, the poor Indian’ to reality. The story is harsh, gritty, and realistic. The characters are real, believable people. It’s a good read.”
      —C.F. Eckhardt, The Tombstone Epitaph
     
     
            “You may be unaware of a New Mexico community called Monument, but here’s your chance to catch up on a little history. In 1875, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Shafter and his Buffalo Soldiers were dying of thirst on their trek through the Staked Plains. They discovered a lifesaving spring in southeastern New Mexico Territory. To guide future travelers seeking water, they built a monument of white rock on a nearby rise, a spot known today as Monument, New Mexico. Truett has written a fast-moving tale of adventure, romance and frontier tragedy. The novel is centered on the exciting adventures of Cassandra, the young girl who flees a convent to marry a young Army captain. Author Truett is a native of Artesia, New Mexico, and now lives in Roswell. This is his second in a series of western historical fiction. The other two, To Die in Dinetah, The Dark Legacy of Kit Carson and Clay Allison, Legend of Cimarron, were also published by Sunstone Press.”
      —Book Talk
     
     
            “John A. Truett has fashioned a novel about the exciting adventures of Cassandra, a young girl who, in 1875, marries an Army captain and forges her way west, struggling against fire, flood, blood-thirsty Indians, and a tumultuous love for the man she ought to hate. Monument in the Storm is a superbly spun story by a native of New Mexico who has managed to put the very feel of western history into his engaging narrative.”
      —Wisconsin Bookwatch