Phantom Stallion #14: Moonrise (Phantom Stallion)

Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not great
Review: First, I would like to say that I overall enjoy the Phantom Stallion series a great deal. I own and have read all of the books that are currently out and will continue to do so. However, I think the series is going downhill a bit with the last few books.

In this particular book the ending is well......very lacking. I mean, nothing is solved or changes! The whole book is about how worried Samantha is about these dangerous hunting dogs that keep getting loose and how they might hurt the wild horse foals or ranch animals. Slocum (who is getting to be more and more unrealistic in his "villainy") owns the dogs. The dogs keep showing up and harassing the horses, the ranch dog Blaze disappears, and Slocum keeps letting the dogs get away. However, Samantha all the sudden is working hard on learning to rope so she can round up stray cows. While out there, she finds Linc Slocum stuck in a big crater unable to get out. There is no problem with that, but at the end of the book, she and Jennifer bring back some cows to their fathers and that is end. Nothing else happens. The dogs (which were STILL out there running loose at the end of the book) are still a problem, but Samantha never seems to remember because she is so proud about bringing in a few cows and being a "buckaroo". Blaze is not found. They never even say if they rescue Linc safely, etc. The book just stops with none of the big problems solved. I found that rather annoying and disappointing. I was not expecting Samantha to shoot the dogs or anything, but to have nothing solved at the end except that she managed to herd some cows was an empty, meaningless ending to me. So what that Slocum was in trouble? That solved none of the problems and he is probably going to be even worse to deal with now.

That said, the book was still well written with good description and all. That was the main reason I gave it three stars. It was easy to read, good with imagery, and started well. It was just the anticlimactic ending that upset me personally.