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"An enormously engaging novel with characters who feel like old friends and a spirit as big as the West. From the opening paragraphs, you are in the hands of a master with the ability to evoke the grandeur of the still untamed western landscape and the folks whose lives are shaped by it. What a gifted storyteller Robert Greer is "Spoon" is the kind of story you will remember."--Margaret Coel, author of "The Silent Spirit"

"In Montana, a drifter rescues a family and their way of life before he moves on. It starts in late summer, it ends the following autumn, and the sweetness and melancholy of the seasons perfectly complement this classic tale of a cowboy, ranchers and big business, told with sweet humor and Western elegance."--Marilyn Dahl for "Shelf Awareness"

"His hat was a snow white Tom Mix block, and he wore it tipped forward just enough to shade his eyes. When I asked him what had happened to his shoes, he said, "Shoes can be excess baggage when a man's in a hurry.""

A novel of the contemporary American West, "Spoon" tells the story of Arcus Witherspoon, a mysterious half-black, half-Indian, oddly clairvoyant man searching the West for his roots. Hitchhiking near Hardin, Montana, Spoon falls in with a ranching family struggling to keep their ranch afloat amidst the pressures of hard economic times and an encroaching coal company. Proving himself a gifted ranch hand and mentor, Spoon charges himself with rescuing the Darleys and guiding the family's teenage son TJ on his path to manhood. While Spoon's checkered past includes a prison stint and a navy tour of Vietnam, it is his tenacity, wisdom, and charm that end up defining this quintessential Western man.

Robert Greer is author of the popular CJ Floyd mystery series: "The Devil's Hatband," "The Devil's Red Nickel," "The Devil's Backbone," "Resurrecting Langston Blue," "The Fourth Perspective," "The Mongoose Deception," and "Blackbird," "Farewell," as well as two medical thrillers. He is a practicing pathologist and professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, and he owns a cattle ranch in Wyoming. Visit www.robertgreerbooks.com.

2. How do you feel about Spoon as a person? Would you be friends with him? Do you think he's clairvoyant?

3. How much does history affect each of the characters and their relationships with one another?

4. In what ways is Spoon a traditional Western? Are there ways in which it challenges this genre classification?

5. What was unique about the setting and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

6. What specific themes did the author emphasize throughout the novel? What do you think he is trying to get across to the reader?

7. Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

8. How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

9. Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

10. In what ways did you identify with the situations and/or characters?

11. What major emotions did the story evoke in you as a reader?

12. Many of the ranch owners and families agree that they would die for their land. To what extent does concern for land/property continue today? What would you die for?

• January 2012 Indie Next List
• December 2011 Indie Next List
• November 2011 Indie Next List