Tales And Novels Of J. De La Fontaine Book

Half-Irish, Half-Mexican Michael Patrick Obanon finds his ranch in the New Mexico territory slipping out from under him when the border with Mexico shifts and all Spanish Land Grants are nullified. Desperadoes move in and try to take over the ranch, not realizing "don Michael" is actually the property's owner. He plays a fun Zorro-like game with them (without ever donning an mask and costume) that puts not just his own life but the lives of his tenants at risk if everything doesn't play out just right. Another fun outing. I could see a young Antonio Banderas as Michael Patrick. There are certain plot similarities with Black Ensign, which just shows that Hubbard was cranking these things out by formula (and either hoping, or not caring, that no-one would notice if the same basic plot showed up in different genres).

EDIT TO ADD, in light of a comment made by James (below): I gave the book two stars because I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the other books I'd read in the first half of 2010 or in previous years. I called this a 'fun outing,' but it wasn't something I would reread. While being formulaic itself is not a reason to give a book two stars (as the commenter noted), lacking any character depth or differentiation is (in my opinion). And that, from my memory (the book has long since left my collection) is the problem I had with the book. While the Zorro-like shenanigans were fun, I didn't feel connected to or invested in anyone in the book. (This is all stuff I should have put in the original review. Thanks to James for calling my attention to the fact that I hadn't.)