The Ballad of Jack O'Dair

Rating:
Summary: A very special time travel romnce
Review: Folksinger Jessie Jerome feels her quest is almost complete. She has obsessively been seeking the final verse to a seemingly tragic ballad that touched her years ago. In the Skagway South Saloon, she meets the very old Lizard Songthroat. He escorts her to a remote mountain cabin, but deserts Jessie there.

The next morning, Jessie finds she has somehow been transported back to the world of Jack O'Dair. As Jessie and Jack become acquainted, she observes him perform the heroic deeds of the verse. However, she worries about the outcome since the little she knows of the last stanza includes a deadly avalanche that could be the burial plot of the lawman she loves.

THE BALLAD OF JACK O'DAIR is a clever tale that showcases the story telling talent of Linda O. Johnson. The exciting story line fully entertains the audience due to the lead charcaters. Jack is a hero who lives up to his legend. Jessie is as much a hero as Jack as she tries to come up with a happy ever after ending to his ballad. With this astute tale, romance readers will sing the Ballad of Linda O. Johnson.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Ballad folk hero comes to life.
Review: Jessie Jerome has always loved Jack O'Dair, but all Jack is to her is the hero of a folk song, and an incomplete one at that. Jessie searches for anyone who might know the end to the song, until she comes upon an ancient miner who knows most of the verses. Lizard Songthroat takes Jessie to a mountain cabin, which is fine, and leaves her there alone, which isn't. When morning comes, Jessie finds herself transported to the past and into the arms of the real Jack O'Dair. As she learns to love the man, she witnesses each heroic act which makes the verses of the song come true. But the last known verse, about the deadly avalanche, was never finished. Will finishing that verse be the end of her love and of Jack O'Dair? Linda O. Johnston has created a fine folk myth, in The Ballad of Jack O'Dair. Imaginative and clever, this book is a true page-turner