If not for the fact that I had known the author in college, I never would have read Caldera. In fact, westerns are not my usual genre of choice for leisure reading. I must admit that I began reading it with an equal mix of curiosity, skepticism and optimism. By the time I had finished (to paraphrase David Alan Coe), I realized that my friend had written the perfect western novel.

The story and its rich cast of diverse characters immediately grabbed me and pulled me into the harsh reality of the badlands of the post-Civil War (a.k.a. The War of Northern Aggression as it is still referred to in parts of the South) Arizona Territory. It is a world populated by grizzled frontiersmen, fierce Apache raiders, peaceful Pima allies, dangerous Mexican outlaws and a host of other believable, period-appropriate characters who must interact with one another in an ever changing dance of survival of the fittest and most resourceful. The ‘action' scenes are frequent, varied, and compelling.
It is also a story of relationships, love stories, deceptions, friendships, betrayals, temporary alliances, and grudging coexistences.
The many references to Native American culture, customs and language are authentic and well researched.
Dan has written the perfect western novel.
GUS WALES, Advertising Executive

As a writer, I'm always pleased to see another writer succeed. As a professional freelance editor, I'm even more pleased when an editing client succeeds. I read a lot of manuscripts. Every now and then, one comes along that screams for a sequel. That was the case with Caldera. Although Caldera is a long novel that left me more than satisfied, it was such an excellent story that it also left me hungering for more. When Dan told me he was going to write Man on Fire, a sequel to Caldera, I didn't really care whether I got to edit it. I just wanted to read it. And not to let the cat out of the bag, but I have it on good authority that Dan is planning at least two more books in the Caldera series. I predict this will be a saga in the grand style of James A. Michener, but without all the misplaced modifiers.
Harvey Stanbrough
Poet, author, essayist, fictionist, editor, instructor and Pulitzer Prize nominee for poetry.

Dan Baldwin's novel, Caldera, is a rich experience on so many levels. His plot lines are anything but predictable - exciting and gritty to be sure, yet frequently elevated to the spiritual, even the supernatural - sometimes disturbing, but always unforgettable. His characters, even the secondary and lesser ones, ring as authentic and as contrasting as wind chimes of pottery and brass. Baldwin's novel portrays the real Wild West, and in particular the Arizona territory, as it truly was before statehood and great migrations rendered it "civilized" and long enough afterwards to present a historically balanced and well-researched story.
The characters of Caldera defy the stereotypes of heroes and villains, of Native Americans, Hispanics, and White peoples. They reflect the variety and complexity of the era - cowboys and Indians; drifters, gamblers and empire builders; soldiers and settlers; farmers, ranchers and renegades; townspeople, prostitutes, merchants and madams - all against a varied and beautiful, but raw and unforgiving landscape. Be forewarned, reading Dan Baldwin's Caldera places one in a vast and virtual reality - an experience hard to leave and harder to forget, lingering long after the last word whispers an echo.
ANNETTE TOLBERT, University art instructor