Flint's Truth

Although it boasts a tighter plot than its prequel (Flint's Gift, 1997), the second volume in Wheeler's trilogy about frontier newspaperman Sam Flint suffers, like the first, from a weak, unbelievable ending. Flint's curiosity, integrity and stubbornness are rarely appreciated by local politicos, and in his life he's often had to bug out of town in a hurry before the tar-and-feather boys showed up. In this tale, set in 1870, Flint sets up shop editing The Nugget in Oro Blanco, N.Mex., a gold-mining boomtown divided between greedy Yankees and poor, struggling Mexicans. Poking around for stories, honest Flint smells a rat--a conspiracy involving everyone from the mine owners to the saloonkeepers and the town marshall. Meanwhile, the villainous gringos who first welcomed The Nugget get worried as Flint begins to report the illegal activities of some unsavory town officials, and soon the baddies decide Flint has to go. A violent and unexpected murder lights the fuse for the final showdown, but the conclusion fizzles out with nary a sputter. (May)