I don't understand why everyone has a boner over this. Can someone fill me in?

I couldn't put this book down! I loved it! Great descriptions, wonderful character development, and non stop action kept me reading late into the night. <3

Absolutely loved this book. Fine first effort by the author. Love how he was able to give us the developmental history of Abilene, KS and fills it with highly believable dialogue and plot line.

This is not your ordinary cowboy book. Based on actual events, this story takes place in Abilene, Kansas in the 1870's about a boy's, Will Merritt, coming of age. With Wild Bill Hickok as marshal the is town divided. One side cowboys trying to sell and ship their steer and settlers trying to start a new life farming the flat plains of rich soil. Through events Will has no control over, he learns life's hard lessons. This book is fun, entertaining, and so well written I couldn't put it down. I wo...

I read the book blurb awhile back and wanted to read this book badly, I even entered the Goodreads giveaway, twice. I didn't win it so I bought it. I am disappointed.I was promised, I thought, an epic tale of cattle ranchers vs. sod busters. A young man caught between the lives of rough and rowdy cowpunchers and the hard working, dusty farmers. A man who's family made a fortune off one way of life but harbored a secret. What I got was a tale of a young boy seeing this tale told from a distance a...

“Wide Open”, Larry Bjornson's first novel, is a great read. I blew through it in two days. Engaging and humorous. Eerily transporting descriptions interspersed with fast-paced action. A coming-of-age story with conflict and resolution, loss and gain, love and tragedy.Will Merritt's father helped develop Abilene, Kansas as the premier town where Texas cattle are exchanged for eastern money. But in the summer of 1871, Merritt senior harbored a secret that would change the city and maybe destroy it...

I just finished reading this book, and had to write about it immediately. It is quite unfortunate that I came across this book as I was moving 2,000 miles across the country, because I ended up reading it in many short bits. This book I would normally have read in a day because it draws you into a different world.So, after a few pages I was already hooked, thanks to the beautiful language Larry Bjornson uses to build his story. I was immediately drawn into this world over 100 years ago, and each...

I won this book in a giveaway and I am so happy that I did. I loved this book and I was sad it had to end. It was hard to put down. The book has action, adventure, romance, and a little mystery, making it a very good read. It has chapters that are on the shorter side, which i really like (makes it easier when you have to stop reading often). The book is also very well-written. The author manages to describe sights, smells, etc. in a way that makes you feel like you're there. I haven't felt that ...

"Wide Open" delivers every element I want in a book: good writing, realistic characters, and a great story. And as a bonus, the book also supplies a good dose of page-turning suspense, historical information about a pivotal time in the settlement of the American West, and most importantly, it left me feeling richer as a person, richer to have known Will Merritt, his family, and all the other folks who live on the pages of Bjornson's novel. "Wide Open" takes an honored place in my bookshelf as on...

Five stars. You've gotta like your own work.