The Predators Author:F. M. Parker Though characterization is not his strong suit, Parker follows his many adventure novels of the American frontier ( The Assassins ) with this interesting account of the 1856-1860 Mormon prairie treks to Utah, during which almost 3000 converts hauled and pushed handcarts from the Middle West to Salt Lake City. Leaving grinding poverty in England,... more » Caroline Shepherd heeds the call to travel to Zion, and, in St. Joe, Mo., joins a group of converts from Scandinavia for the 1000-mile journey across the Great Plains. En route, the caravan (mostly young females) is menaced by rapacious Pawnees, by murderous thugs dispatched by the father of a convert and by a score of armed Mormons ostensibly protecting their "property" but in reality preventing the women from leaving the caravan--especially because a posse of Texans is riding north seeking wives among the group. All converge in a lethal tangle near Scott's Bluff. Beautiful, headstrong Caroline, a troubled Texas rancher and the vicious leader of the armed band are the main characters in this accurately detailed but plainly written narrative.« less