One of Amazon's top 20 best horse stories ever... FINALIST FAULKNER - WISDOM AWARD... Imagine a world without the great American mustang. Visualize our western parks and grasslands void of all wild horses. We are getting close, very close to that imagery today. Consider this: in 1914, there were roughly four-million wild mustangs in the United States; culling and slaughtering has reduced this number to less than one-hundred thousand. What is being done to our remaining untamed herds in this supposed enlightened age of ours is truly a travesty. Author, David Martin Anderson, journeyed to Montana's Pryor Mountain to study the last of the Spanish jennets still roaming free but soon to become extinct. The fruit of that labor is the novel, THE LAST GOOD HORSE. The story, itself, transitions between the 1930s and modern-day Montana as the protagonist, Billy Bartell, is near-death and eager to tell the truth about the dark days of his youth when he rounded up horses for the slaughterhouse. It was in 1939 that seventeen-year-old Billy leaves home to seek his fortune. For Billy the choice is simple: stay in Billings working the family funeral home or work the Pryor Mountain meadowland capturing wild mustangs and living out a lifelong dream among the last of the old-West cowboys. Ironically, Billy substitutes one death trade for another, for not only does he master rounding up horses, he learns how to slaughter and render the animals by the thousands and pack their carcasses in iced-down boxcars. Through it all Billy must come to terms with his newfound craft. You see, he has made a pact with the devil, one Captain Belial. Getting out of a pact with the devil is never easy especially when you are seventeen and possess a conscience. THE LAST GOOD HORSE runs much deeper than the morality play it might appear on the surface. The story is not only a study in the horse extermination practices of the 1930's but also a revisionist look at American morals of that same bygone era. In 1939, America stood on the brink of a new awakening. America teetered between innocence and sinfulness brought on by a world stage in disarray. Billy Bartell represents that America, standing with one foot in heaven and one foot in hell. He has lost himself to the lure of money and debauchery and the need to flee a miserable home life at any cost. In the end, he has choices to make to salvage his soul, for at age seventeen he is neither child nor adult. He is Dante. He is everyman searching for heaven....“ One of the best stories ever written on the exploitation of our mustang herds. David Martin Anderson weaves a gripping and emotional tale of murder and slaughter in Montana” G. Ray Field, Director, Wild Horse Foundation… "Anderson’s tale masterfully guides the reader to discover (or re-discover) the unique and sacred bond between man and horse….” Boerne Business Journal, Rusty Meador “David Martin Anderson’s compelling novel takes the lid off nostalgic illusions about wild horses being part of the ‘Proud Heritage’ of the American West. Anderson reveals a depth of human brutality and greed, and places before us a crisis of conscience over the violence towards horses, slaughter, and profiteering that continues today. The ‘Last Good Horse’ takes us out of our comfort zone and demands that we look squarely at our… mercenary past. ‘The Last Good Horse’ reminds us of the forgiveness, beauty, selfless service and grace granted to us throughout history by the horses….” Alicia Nation, President, NM Mustang & Burro Association. Endorsed by: Wild Horse Preservation League, Mustang & Wild Horse Rescue of Georgia, Saving America's Mustangs, Save the Mustang Foundation, NM Mustang & Burro Association, Wild Horse Foundation, American Wild Horse Preservation League BE SURE TO READ the exciting sequel, BEATY BUTTE, also available through Amazon! David Martin Anderson has done a remarkable job bringing together the mysterious spirit of the mustang and of man s cruelty to his partner and friend for so many years, intertwining fiction with historical fact. --David Hesse, Ex. Director, Mustang & Wild Horse Rescue of GA One of the best stories ever written on the exploitation of our mustang herds. David Martin Anderson weaves a gripping and emotional tale of murder and slaughter in Montana. --G. Ray Field, Director, Wild Horse Foundation David Martin Anderson s compelling novel takes the lid off nostalgic illusions about wild horses being part of the Proud Heritage of the American West. Anderson reveals a depth of human brutality and greed, and places before us a crisis of conscience over the violence towards horses, slaughter, and profiteering that continues today. The Last Good Horse takes us out of our comfort zone and demands that we look squarely at our... mercenary past. The Last Good Horse reminds us of the forgiveness, beauty, selfless service and grace granted to us throughout history by the horses.... --Alicia Nation, President, NM Mustang & Burro Associ