‘Pigeon Spring’ by Herman Groman

Herman Groman is a retired FBI agent who now works as a director of security at one of the major Las Vegas resorts. He could tell you stories from his casino and FBI background that would have you laughing out loud or cringing at man’s inhumanity to his fellow brother.

Groman also knows how to tell a good story and now has added fiction writing to his resume. His first novel, “Pigeon Spring,” is about a retired FBI agent, and this novel is just the beginning of many projects the author has in store for readers.

Pigeon Spring was an old mining camp in the late 1800s and early 1900s where people hunted for gold and silver, hoping to change their lives for the better. Today, Pigeon Spring has been turned into a ranch by retired FBI agent Matt Steel and his lovely wife, Alex. It’s a place for the kids and grandkids to visit as well as a refuge for Matt to get away from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, where he works as a director of security at a large Las Vegas casino.

Over the years, Matt has become friendly with many of the people who live around the Pigeon Spring area. One of Matt’s buddies, Old Red, is a prospector in search of gold. Everything is going good, until the day Red and his new partner, Raymond, start finding small nuggets of gold and decide to lay claim to the piece of land on which they’re prospecting. That’s when Kiel Sandefur enters the picture.

Though hiding under the Witness Protection Plan, Kiel is still a criminal at heart and enjoys using his wits to steal money from people. Once he hears about the gold Old Red and Raymond have found, Kiel sets his sights on stealing their parcel of land with the help of some lowlifes. That’s when Matt and his old partner from the FBI, Charlie, decide to get into the action.

There’s also a second story in “Pigeon Spring,” which deals with Matt’s wife, Alex, and an old spearhead she finds while walking the grounds of her property. The spearhead has a history that incorporates several characters from the past and how they interconnect to each other and to those in the future. This story runs parallel with the one involving Matt, and both eventually merge.

“Pigeon Spring” as a novel is a slow burn. The author takes his time with the story’s pacing by developing the lead characters so the reader can identify with each one, seeing them as living, breathing people on the written page. Groman also uses his talent and knowledge to quickly draw the reader into the fascinating history of Nevada and the area around Pigeon Spring. He illustrates many of the flamboyant citizens who populated the state’s past. As much fun as this is, the author teases us with an inside look at FBI undercover operations and the many unsavory things that go on behind the scenes in a Las Vegas casino. I found myself utterly engrossed with these tidbits of information.

The author definitely knows how weave a tale, using his own background in criminal law to create a spellbinding story that certainly calls for a prequel. I won’t give the ending away, but Groman needs to get started on a new Matt Steel novel that delves into the character’s past and his infiltration into the mob. I, for one, am ready for another, and I hope we can look for one sometime in 2011.