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MWSA Review
The Outlaws: In Pursuit of Gold is a young adult novel by Tim Deal. This novel is stand-alone in the Colin, Gert, Gannon, and Tye Adventure Series. The story is a fictionalized account of Marshall Bass Reeves and the search for lost gold in the Utah Territory in 1884.
The novel opens in the past when Bass Reeves, a compelling character of historical significance, tracks down a pair of bank robbers, siblings James and John Reynolds. Reeves captures one brother while the other one escapes and hides the gold. Fast-forward to a present-day when a distant relative of the bank robbers is determined to track down the gold he claims is rightfully his.
Enter the main characters, Colin, Gert, Gannon, and Tye, a tight-knit group of friends united in their loyalty from their prior adventures together. When the group find an old journal among the effects of U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, they embark on a classic treasure hunt across the Old West. Whether by jeep, train, horseback, or boat, they follow the clues through a series of misadventures. Along the way, they learn the most valuable treasure of all is the one found in their friendship with one another.
Review by Rebecca O’Bea (February 2024)
Author's Synopsis
Rocky Mountain News, May 6, 1888 Outlaw John Reynolds, leader of the Reynolds Gang, died at the end of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves’ famous revolver!!! Witnesses say that on his dying breath he told the marshal the location of the stolen gold from one of Colorado’s greatest heists. Reeves, the West’s most feared and cunning marshal denied the claim. Present day - Colin, Gert, Gannon and Tye stumble upon an old, black book owned by the late Marshal Bass Reeves. The discovery leads them on a hunt for long-ago hidden treasure deep in the vast, unforgiving landscape of the American West. Unraveling century-old clues, the four adventurers must follow the footsteps of the notorious bandit John Reynolds, on a journey fraught with danger. In a race against time, they must battle a deadly foe from their past, Abigail Younger who is ruthless, smart and deadly. In the high stakes gamble for treasure, Colin, Gert, Gannon and Tye team up with the marshals of the Four Corners Region to find the gold and bring Abigail and her posse of criminals to justice. They must be as fearless and cunning as Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves to survive and return home.
Format(s) for review: Paper Only
Review Genre: Young Adult (Fiction or Nonfiction)
Number of Pages: 302
Word Count: 70,540