The Big Open is a story of three teenage boys from the far corners of our nation and their rendezvous with fate in The Red Desert of Wyoming during the 1880s. Led by one of the most feared gunmen ever to enter the west, they take on the task of aiding a widow in her fight to save her spread from the takeover of a big rancher and sheep-hating cowboys who murdered her husband. Each in his own way becomes a man, and in spite of their fears, each faces death head-on until he establishes his own identity, as well as his own self-satisfaction. If you have not had the chance to read the Owl Hoot Trilogy, may we suggest: Book 1-Gold in the Red Desert. T. H. Bear introduces his readers to Reb Brown. Reb is a returning prisoner of war from the Federal prison at Point Lookout Maryland, who walked home to the family land in South Georgia. Within months, he is charged with a capital crime by the authorities and must flee to Wyoming. Book 2-The Withlacoochee Renegades. Reb Brown and his new wife, Nadine, return from the Red Desert to the family home in Georgia at the request of his mother. She wrote to her son to explain how his father and brother were killed during the reconstruction period. When Reb and Nadine return, they find lawlessness abounds in the Occupational Government. Book 3-The Long Trail. Reb Brown pursues his arch-enemy, John M. Tidwell, the man who killed many of the home folk and some of Reb's family. In dogged pursuit, Reb will not falter until he has reached his goal to go face to face with Tidwell and do justice for those he loved, those he fought with, and mostly for justice.