Alternate histories are usually fun the read as we’ve all wondered “what if?”. In this case, the author skillfully weaves a tale of what changes we’d have seen if Davy Crockett hadn’t perished at the Alamo. Well done and seemingly plausible.

380 pages

5 stars

This is an absolutely wonderful book!

Could David Crockett have survived the siege of the Alamo in 1836?

It is 1838 and sixteen-year old Silas Grant is planning his life with the woman he loves. He is also learning much. From his father, he is learning blacksmithing and from several heroes of the Revolution, he is learning about life and how to be a man of Texas in that era.

When a rumor reaches an American Ambassador in Mexico that Mr. Crockett survived the Alamo and is working in a mine in Mexico, the ambassador sends his trusted friend Mr. Brown to investigate. The rumor turns out to be false, but at a political dinner, the ambassador discovers a charcoal portrait that stuns him. The recent drawing is of David Crockett.

Mr. Brown travels to Texas to investigate among the men who knew him best. Enter the Heroes of the Revolution. They arrive in San Antonio from all over Texas.

Interviewed separately, they, to a man, all agree that the picture is of David Crockett.

The men then set out to locate Mr. Crockett’s whereabouts.

What follows is an exciting investigation and a race to find David. Mr. Pyke’s writing is a joy to read. We learn enough about the various characters to find them likable with kind, but implacable personalities. The book reads quickly, partially because the reader gets so involved in the story that it becomes obsessive. The dialogue among the men is very well done with little spots of humor interspersed.

I have always been fascinated with the story of the Alamo and the brave men who died there. The relationships between Travis, Bowie and Crockett have occupied me for years. (Of course, one can add Sam Houston to the mix.) So this book was a boon for me to find. I snatched it up right away. I will never forget it and will read it gladly again.

I want to thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

The author brought to life a fictional account of legendary frontiersman and congressman, David Crockett. He was most revered for his selfless role at the battle of the Alamo. Critically wounded during the bloody assault on the Mission, he was the only defender taken alive and delivered into Mexico, a prisoner. So the story began.

A couple years later, a rumor began to circulate around the country, Crockett was still alive. But if he was, where was he?

The storyline went on to paint an elaborate tale of how a group of men, Alamo sympathizers, set out to find Crockett, and once and for all, put the unproven rumor to rest - was Crockett dead as most assumed or was there a remote possibility he was still alive? There was only one way for them to find out. And so they did.

The narrative kept me spellbound from beginning to end as the plot grew stronger with each passing chapter. The storyline culminated with a spectacular finish. This well-written book had everything in it to make for a fascinating read.

When an alternate history book is so well written that you have to keep reminding yourself......this is fiction......you have to give it 5 stars. When evidence convinces several people that Davy Crockett, and others, survived the Alamo, a search and rescue team is joined by young Silas Grant whose POV narrates this story, David Z Pyke has done a heck of a job telling a story that we could all of hoped were true.

I don't know a lick about Texas history, other than rudimentary information on the Alamo, but this book drove me to the history books to read more about the Republic of Texas, the men who fought and died at the Alamo, the battles with Santa Ana's troops and aftermath (San Jacinto, the Runaway Scrape) and other fascinating information and I came away incredibly impressed. About 80% of the characters in Rescuing Crockett were real people and the fictional characters are so well-developed that they read like flesh-and-bone real men and women.

The author uses the framing device of David (he hated "Davy") Crockett surviving the carnage of the Alamo and possibly being taken by Santa Ana to Mexico, and pulls together a group of men to speak with survivors (yes, there were survivors - some women and children, Williams Travis' slave, Jim, etc.), retrace the retreat of Santa Ana's army, investigate all avenues, fight like wildcats, and come to a conclusion that seems entirely possible and very gratifying.

The book starts with the POV of the Mexican troops after the Alamo had been breached and somehow this makes it all seem more horrific - this was no glorious victory and so many people probably suffered from life-long PTSD as a result. There's a reason "Remember the Alamo" was a rallying cry for the population of the young Republic of Texas. There's a quiet strength to these characters - historic and fictional - that shows why men lay down their lives for a cause, how boys strive to become men of integrity, how you pick up the pieces of your life and somehow continue when it seems impossible.

The plot held my interest absolutely every step of the way, and the alternate universe of the book felt grounded and real. I can't recommend this book enough. 5 stars