Editors Note: This article was originally published in the April 17, 2024 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
Fans of western fiction can expect to add another book to their collection.
Local wordsmith Kenneth Mortensen has published his sophomore novel, “The Revenge Trail.” To celebrate, he will be holding a book signing April 20 at IFA from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The book is set in the mid-19th century in the West—primarily the Wyoming-Utah border and into Colorado and Arizona—and follows protagonist Wyatt Kendall as he tracks down a band of cattle thieves that killed his family and leave him for dead after an ambush.
Like his debut novel, The Revenge Trail is the result of being “wintered in,” Mortensen said. With little to do during the cold Millard County nights, he turned his attention back to writing.
“Everybody said ‘when are you going to do the sequel’,” Mortensen said of the public’s reaction to his first book. “And I said ‘well, there isn’t going to be a sequel.’ Last year came, and I was wintered in, nothing going on and I thought well… here’s an idea.”
Mortensen bounced a few notions around before settling in on his final plot.
“He lost everything, so he packed it up and started out,” he said of Kendall’s journey. “Bit by bit he’s able to get on the trail of these guys and set things right.”
The novel follows Kendall’s investigation and struggle with alcohol as he stops in every saloon or pub in the towns his search brings him to.
The book took Mortensen only a few months to write, but transcribing and editing ate a bulk of his time—the book was finally published in mid- March.
“I write everything by hand,” Mortensen said. “So it takes a while to get it typed up. I probably should have made it a little longer story, but I’ve read a thousand of those and some are way too detailed. I just like to get to the point.”
Mortensen credits his daughter, Tisha, for helping coordinate and maintain contact with the publishing company, and Karen Johnson for transcribing.
“She did an excellent job,” he said.
Copies of “The Revenge Trail” and his inaugural novel “Rattlesnake Basin” are available for purchase at Service Drug, or contact Mortensen directly.
“I’ve been really pleased that people wanted to know if there was going to be a sequel to the first one,” Mortensen said of the reaction to his work. “There probably won’t be a next one. If I was to write another, it would be a sequel to (The Revenge Trail).”
Don’t lose hope, however. Mortensen said now that he’s retired he might find time for another plot or two.
