Captain's Rangers (Texas Rangers Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Elmer Kelton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006 | Series: Texas Rangers Series

In 1875, nearly forty years after the Mexican War, Mexicans and Texans are still spilling blood over ownership of the Nueces Strip--a hot, dry stretch of coastal prairie that bushwackers and horse thieves have turned into a lawless hell. 

 

Captain L.H. McNelly, a complex and determined Confederate veteran, is brought into the Nueces Strip for one purpose: to keep the peace. His measures are harsh and controversial--but McNelly wasn't sent in to be popular.  In this boilerpot of killing and racial hatred, can any man bring lasting peace?

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Elmer Kelton is a Texas treasure, as important for his state as Willa Cather is for Nebraska and Badger Clark for South Dakota. Kelton truly deserve to be made one of the immortals of literature."--El Paso Herald-Post

"One of the best of a new breed of Western writers who have driven the genre into new territory."--The New York Times

About the Author

Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was the award-winning author of more than forty novels, including The Time It Never Rained, Other Men’s Horses, Texas Standoff and Hard Trail to Follow. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for 42 years, and served in the infantry in World War II. He died in 2009.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812574907
• ISBN-13: 978-0812574906
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elmer Kelton of San Angelo, Texas is a native Texan and author of over 50 Western novels. He has won many awards for his work and has been recognized as the Greatest Western Writer of all time by the Western Writers of America, Inc. He is the author of Forge's Texas Ranger series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Violent Times In Texas, September 18, 2000

By 

Clint Hunter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Captain's Rangers (Texas Rangers Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Thirty years after the Texans defeated Santa Anna's Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto, the area in far Southwest Texas betwen the Nueces river and the Rio Grande was still a virtual battleground between Texans and Mexicans. Texans claimed the area by virtue of the treaty ending the conflict with Mexico, and Mexican settlers claimed the area because the land had been in their families for generations. As usual, Kelton brings a great sense of place and local dialogue to this novel. The settings and people around which the action takes place are, in many instances, drawn directly from the pages of Texas history.

Lanham Neal, a Confederate vetran wounded in his first and last battle against the Yankees, had finally settled in as "caporal" at the small ranch run by Griffin Daingerfield and his daughter Zoe. While Lanham, Zoe, and some ranch hands were away from the ranch house rounding up and branding their cattle, Mexican guerillas crossed the border, killed Griffin Daingerfield and others, and burned the ranch buildings to the ground. Neal found himself in the middle of the conflict. He must balance his priorities between his love and loyalty to Zoe, her insistence on revenge for the death of her father, and his own conscience. Eventually Captain L.H. McNelly and his small company of Texas Rangers enter the scene with orders to bring law and order to the territory regardless of the price in lives and property and the action excalates.

This novel is part of a series of "Tales of Texas." Anyone reading this book will gain an interesting insight into this violent time in Texas history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic story, August 10, 2008

By 

Robyn Raine - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captain's Rangers (Texas Rangers Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

You have to read the whole Texas Ranger story starting with the Buckskin Line. This is a fantastic written by a Texan who knows his stuff.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Western large print book, April 3, 2010

By 

Claudiacougar (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Captain's Rangers (Texas Rangers Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

The book was a gift. Have not read it, but the receiver enjoyed it.