The Predators

Though characterization is not his strong suit, Parker follows his many adventure novels of the American frontier ( The Assassins ) with this interesting account of the 1856-1860 Mormon prairie treks to Utah, during which almost 3000 converts hauled and pushed handcarts from the Middle West to Salt Lake City. Leaving grinding poverty in England, Caroline Shepherd heeds the call to travel to Zion, and, in St. Joe, Mo., joins a group of converts from Scandinavia for the 1000-mile journey across the Great Plains. En route, the caravan (mostly young females) is menaced by rapacious Pawnees, by murderous thugs dispatched by the father of a convert and by a score of armed Mormons ostensibly protecting their ``property'' but in reality preventing the women from leaving the caravan--especially because a posse of Texans is riding north seeking wives among the group. All converge in a lethal tangle near Scott's Bluff. Beautiful, headstrong Caroline, a troubled Texas rancher and the vicious leader of the armed band are the main characters in this accurately detailed but plainly written narrative. (July)