I think that this book was thouroughly engrossing. I started on a Thursday night and was done with it by Saturday (which is very good timing for me). The characters are well-written by the author (Dana Fuller Ross), and I loved the detail of the novel. I could actually picture myself in the frontier. I have also read the other two books in this series (Expedition, Book 2 and Outpost, Book 3). This was the first western frontier type of series that I have read and I do not intend for it to be my last. I will now be on the search for all the other books about the Holts (there are over 20 of them!).