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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Kelton, E. | Searching... Unknown |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | PBK Western Kelton, E. | Searching... Unknown |
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Searching... Sheridan Public Library | Kelton Texas Ranger v.7 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | W KELTON | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In this, the seventh novel in Kelton's acclaimed Texas Ranger series, former Texas Ranger Andy Pickard ("Badger Boy" as he was known as a youth living among Comanches), leaves his fiancée's farm in north central Texas. He begins to track the man, Luther Cordell, who he believes killed his friend, Sheriff Tom Blessing. Pickard is mistaken. But although Cordell did not kill Blessing, the robber-ringleader must be brought to Ranger justice and the rest sorted out later.
Author Notes
Elmer Kelton was born on April 29, 1926 in west Texas. He earned a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and served in Europe during World War II. He worked as a livestock and farm writer for The San Angelo Standard-Times and later as an editor for the specialized publications Sheep and Goat Raiser magazine and Livestock Weekly while writing part-time.
He wrote more than 60 books which earned him numerous awards and recognitions. He won the Spur award from Western Writers of America six times for his titles Buffalo Wagons, The Day the Cowboys Quit, The Time It Never Rained, Eye of the Hawk, Slaughter, and The Far Canyon. Four of his titles have won the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City. In addition, he received the Barbara McCombs/Lon Tinkle Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America. His title The Good Old Boys was made into a television movie in 1995.
Kelton also wrote under the pseudonyms Alex Hawk, Lee McElroy and Tom Early. He died on August 22, 2009 at the age of 83.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Prolific Spur Award-winner Kelton knocks out the seventh western in his Texas Ranger series, following 2005's Jericho's Road. In the 1870s, former Texas Ranger Andy Pickard, now a restless farmer, drops his plow and straps on his guns when the local sheriff is murdered during a jailbreak. The dead sheriff, Tom Blessing, had been a father figure to Andy, who vows revenge for his killing. The escaped outlaw is Luther Cordell, a dangerous bank robber and leader of a small gang of desperate owlhoots. The search is long and arduous, and the posse Andy has assembled melts away until only Andy, now a fully reinstated Ranger, remains in solo pursuit. Cordell, meanwhile, is trying to recover the stolen bank loot he'd hidden when captured. Add in Cordell's disgusting relatives, two unlucky saloon stick-up artists, some kindly travelers, fancy gunplay and a remarkably surprising conclusion, and Kelton once again turns in an exciting and satisfying western tale. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Kelton takes the outlaw's side in his latest western, a turn that promises to lead into some welcome tricky footing for the genre's genial master storyteller. Luther Cordell gets himself locked up after robbing a bank (honorable enough) but then must hightail it after a partner kills the sheriff during his jailbreak (not honorable). While eluding the law, Cordell laments his life of crime and how easily he could have been an upstanding citizen had one or two breaks fallen his way. In his wake, Ranger Andy Pickard becomes increasingly baffled as each person along Cordell's trail can't heap enough praise about how good a man that criminal seemed to be, deep down. Kelton misses the chance to delve into the outlaw's more complex faults rather than his simplistic virtues, and it all wears a little thin by the time the inevitable showdown occurs. Still, Kelton is such a fantastic hand at guiding his prose through frontier Texas that, as usual, fans won't be disappointed. It just would have been nice to see him strain a bit harder.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
We've seen, heard, and read it all before-the relentless lawman on a long, hard trail to bring a killer to justice. Bank robber Luther Cordell gets busted out of jail, and likable Sherriff Tom Blessing, good friend of ex-Texas Ranger Andy Pickard, takes a bullet in the gut. Blaming himself for Blessing's death, Andy, whose claim to fame is that he spent his boyhood years with the Comanche Indians, gets his old ranger authority back and chases Cordell across most of Texas before the final showdown. Along the way, we get to see what a nice guy Cordell really is-brave and honorable-and how much he regrets his life of crime. The outlaw trail is a hard trail to follow (double meaning intended all the way). This is the latest novel of a series that began well with Badger Boy in 2001. Kelton is the preeminent author of Westerns in America today, and this is a slick and easy read, but there isn't an original idea or character in the book. Recommended for Kelton's fans.-Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.