Restless Heart
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The Rangers quickly pulled in from our spread out line and slowed down to pull back. Mason, Jack, and I kept our speed as the Rangers fell in behind us. Soon we were in a wedge formation, closely compacted, and in the shape of a triangle, with Jack, Mason, and myself at the tip. We charged into Vicente’s army. Our wedge formation stabbed through their lines like butter. The idea was to penetrate deeply into the center of their dense formation and fight our way out, and it was working superbly. Not only did the strategy work, but it had surprised the bandits and forced them to fight in a way to which they were not accustomed.
We ripped through them quickly and efficiently as they fell dead around us in massive numbers. The plan was working better than I had imagined. As we worked our way from the inside out, I did not see a single Ranger fall. Blood sprayed onto my face as I cut through the ranks. My speed and skill could not be defended against. It only took me one or two strokes to kill a man and move on to the next.
The bandits on the outer ranks began to jump off their horses and charge into the center to fight us, since they could not get through their own lines. I jumped from Renegado’s back and began fighting on the ground where I had more maneuverability. I killed much more efficiently on my feet. Many of the Rangers had jumped to the ground as well. The bandits were falling quickly and their numbers began to dwindle. The pace of the battle began to slow as we reached the point where we had to seek out bandits to fight. The time between engaging one man and moving on to the next became greater and greater, and soon the battle was over. I walked among the dead bodies as the Rangers cheered in amazement of their great victory. We had expected to send them into a retreat. Instead, we had cut their numbers down from over a hundred and fifty men to a mere seventeen, and not a single Ranger had been killed.
The remaining seventeen bandits were on their knees in the center of the battlefield, their weapons thrown away and their hands on their heads. Among them was Vicente Montes.
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About the Book
HIS RESTLESS HEART BEAT TO A RHYTHM OF ITS OWN— a rhythm that had once been so prevalent in the core of his soul, but had long been lost under the thick layers of routine, expectation, and responsibility created by a quiet, civilized life. Konrad Quintero de Leon, a young American man, having just returned home to New York after his schooling at Oxford University, decides to venture west to rediscover that lost rhythm and peel off the layers that have muffled it for so long.
Set in the 1840s, some of America’s most restless years, Konrad begins an endless journey in search of his own “manifest destiny.” He embarks on a westward expedition with the famous explorer John C. Fremont and legendary mountain man Kit Carson. He roams the wild Texas frontier with the Texas Rangers and fights in the bloody Battle of Monterrey under the command of General Zachary Taylor. But the life of a restless wanderer is not an easy one, as Konrad discovers when he falls in love with the beautiful and exciting Anastasia Carriere—the fiancée of another man. He is cast into a desperate battle where he must choose between the woman he loves and the adventure that he craves.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
"Only out a few weeks this novel is already getting rave reviews. You might want to give this one a shot." - from BookTalk.org
"Phillips fills the reader's hearts with their own desire to rediscover something new and exciting in their lives." - from Barnes & Noble reader review
Pacific Book Review, August 10, 2010, August 9, 2010
By www.pacificbookreview.com (California, USA)
This review is from: Restless Heart (Paperback)
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller, Pacific Book Review
Title: Restless Heart: A Novel
T. William Phillips emerges on the literary stage of greatness with his destined-to-be-epic novel "Restless Heart." "To thine own self be true," echoes from William Shakespeare, whereas "Justice by God. Truth by will. Duty by heart," will be etched in the memory of the readers of T. William Phillips' exquisite novel.
The book is appropriately titled "Restless Heart," as "restless" is indeed the proper adjective to describe the heart of Konrad Quintero de Leon. The reader is taken on a journey throughout the expanding United States of America during the mid 19th Century, a formative era often overlooked in contemporary literature. Written in the first person, as if it were an ambrosial diary professing the most intimate thoughts and observations of Konrad, the reader gets immersed within this novel. It is fair to say the book is written within Konrad's mind. The events are seen through his eyes, the dialog from his words or to his ears, his destiny chosen by his thoughts, revealed only to him as well as to the privileged readers. This creates a most memorable experience, transporting one into a surrealistic zone laying witness to this man's life from within his mind, through the words of his narration, as honest as a confession to God.
T. William Phillips has certainly done his research establishing his characters with complete credibility, conviction and confidence. Paralleling history with exact adherence to people and events which helped shaped this country; he interlaced human conduct within his characters with an inherent wisdom beyond his years. The self-evident amount of work that has gone into his creation shows a humble respect for those fortunate enough to find the opportunity to read his novel. My advice to all is if you can't fine the opportunity to read this - make it. This book should be required reading by English Literature courses and novelist's workshops. Impeccable in presentation, T. William Phillips is by all accounts destined to become renown in our day as a contemporary literary force and an inspiration to all writers.
About the Author
T. WILLIAM PHILLIPS was born and raised in Texas. He attended high school in Denver, Colorado; after graduation, he began wandering from one place to the next, living in Bozeman, Montana; Los Angeles, California; and Fort Collins, Colorado. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Visit the author's website at twilliamphillips.com