Lone Star Rising

By Elmer Kelton

Book Overview

In 1999, with Forge's publication of The Buckskin Line, Elmer Kelton launched a series of novels on the formative years of the Texas Rangers. In Texas Justice, the first three of these critically acclaimed books are now brought together in a single volume.In The Buckskin Line, Kelton introduces the red-haired boy captured by a Comanche war party after the massacre of his family. Rescued by Mike Shannon, a member of a Texas "ranging company" protecting settlers from Indian raids, the boy known as Rusty is adopted by the Shannon family. In 1861, Mike Shannon is ambushed and killed, and Rusty follows in his footsteps and joins the Rangers. In the throes of the coming War Between the States, Rusty searches for the Confederates who lynched his adoptive father and awaits meeting the Comanche warrior who killed his family two decades past.At the end of the Civil War, Rusty Shannon is thrown adrift when the Rangers are disbanded, and makes his way to his home on the Red River, where he hopes to marry the girl he left behind, Geneva Monahan. But as Badger Boy, the second novel of the saga, unfolds, Geneva has married another man in Rusty's absence. Faced with this betrayal, he must contend with the hate-filled Confederate and Union soldiers infesting Texas and with the continuing Indian raids against innocent settlers. Rusty's own childhood captivity returns to haunt him when he rescues Andy, a white child called Badger Boy by his Comanche captors. In The Way of the Coyote, Andy rides with Rusty Shannon as the Rangers are re-formed in postwar turmoil. With Texas overrun with outlaws, disenfranchised Confederate veterans, nightriders, and marauding Comanche bands, Rusty tries to resume his pre-war life. When his friend Shanty, a freed slave, is burned out of his home by Ku Klux Klan and Rusty's own homestead is confiscated by a murderous band of thugs, he must follow perilous trails before he can put the war and its aftermath behind him.Texas Justice is not only a masterful re-creation of the early years of the Texas Rangers, it is vintage Elmer Kelton, the undisputed master of the Western story.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765308916
• ISBN13: 9780765308917
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 703 Pages
• Weight: 2.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Three Ranger Novels by Kelton

"This book consists of the first three novels in this series featuring Andy Pickard, mostly. They are all good, solid Elmer Kelton works. And when it comes to his work, 99 percent of the time you know what you are going to get, and will not be disappointed. The only disappointment I have with this book is: the weight and the difficulty in holding the book to read it. The pages are quite stiff to open as well, especially when new. That is the principal reason for the 4 stars. My advice is buy these three novels separately if you are into collecting Mr. Kelton's work for your library."

Kelton at his best

I have long been an admirer of Elmer Kelton's and this new series lives up to my expectations. His prose is classic western writing at its best, and it's hard to find a more exciting subject than the Texas Rangers. Jack Lyle, author of Yet The River Flows On

Can't put it down

My husband loves Western novels. He has exhausted the works of many of the most popular authors. Elmer Kelton's works were just recently recommended to him. He read one just to see if he liked the author's style. He did so we purchased this Texas Rangers Trilogy. He literally cannot put the book down!

Excellent

Like all the Elmer Kelton books I've read, this is excellent. Kelton is better than Larry McMurtry when it comes to Western fiction; too bad he doesn't receive the same popular and critical acclaim. This is a wonderful work of historical fiction with great characters and smooth writing.

Not your ordinary Western

Mr. Kelton does an excellent job developing characters and weaving them into the story. I found the story to be suprisingly intriguing and unpredictable. I plan to read more of his work.

Outstanding Western Fiction

I have read all three of these books separately. Although a trilogy, each can be read on its own. Kelton does an incredible job of creating a sense of place in his novels, and his character development exceeds L'amour's. Highly recommended.