Ridgeline

A Novel

By: Michael Punke

Narrated by: Tatanka Means, Amanda Stribling, Michael Punke

This program includes supplemental material read by the author.

The thrilling, long-awaited return of the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Revenant.

In 1866, with the country barely recovered from the Civil War, new war breaks out on the western frontier - a clash of cultures between a young, ambitious nation and the Native tribes who have lived on the land for centuries. Colonel Henry Carrington arrives in Wyoming’s Powder River Valley to lead the US Army in defending the opening of a new road for gold miners and settlers. Carrington intends to build a fort in the middle of critical hunting grounds, the home of the Lakota. Red Cloud, one of the Lakota’s most respected chiefs, and Crazy Horse, a young but visionary warrior, understand full well the implications of this invasion. For the Lakota, the stakes are their home, their culture, their lives.

As fall bleeds into winter, Crazy Horse leads a small war party that confronts Colonel Carrington’s soldiers with near constant attacks. Red Cloud, meanwhile, seeks to build the tribal alliances that he knows will be necessary to defeat the soldiers. Colonel Carrington seeks to hold together a US Army beset with internal discord. Carrington’s officers are skeptical of their commander’s strategy, none more so than Lieutenant George Washington Grummond, who longs to fight a foe he dismisses as inferior in all ways. The rank-and-file soldiers, meanwhile, are still divided by the residue of civil war, and tempted to desertion by the nearby goldfields.

Throughout this taut saga - based on real people and events - Michael Punke brings the same immersive, vivid storytelling and historical insight that made his breakthrough debut so memorable. As Ridgeline builds to its epic conclusion, it grapples with essential questions of conquest and justice that still echo today.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

©2021 Michael Punke (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Superb story, well-told

Plunke tells a spell-binding story that weaves the perspectives of the colorful characters very well. The narrator made a few stumbles with some words and enunciation, but the writing and historically based story of Fort Phil Kearney is excellent!

This Won’t Disappoint

Punke stays true to history but yet spins a masterful story of fiction. This is now my new favorite genre.

For the hunter, history buff, and cavalry veteran.

Stellar narration. Punke's style is amazing. It's humbling to listen to how these events could have happened.

Wow!!!

This was soooooo good. The way that Pubke brings the story together can’t be understated!!!

Unique perspective

Punke’s treatment of this event sheds doubt on the mythical history of Fetterman’s Massacre, giving more room for various real and amalgamated characters to show their own natures.