Manifest Desti

Continuing the resurgence of the literary western, this engaging historical novel opens in 1884. Theodore Roosevelt, with wife and mother dead, and a promising political career in ruins, arrives in the Badlands determined to become a rancher. Fighting an assortment of physical ailments and the scorn of ranchers and cowboys, he eventually earns the Dakotans' respect. The town of Medora is threatened by Marquis De Mores, a rich Frenchman who's building a cattle empire and willing to go to any lengths to do it--including murder. Roosevelt's sense of fair play prompts him to defend the smaller ranchers against De Mores's brutal assaults. The author claims everything in his book actually happened, but that may be a shortcoming, because everything makes the book too long, and certain events don't contribute to the story. Nevertheless, Garfield spins a satisfying yarn, having shrewdly recognized both a good story and a larger-than-life character named Teddy Roosevelt. (Aug.)