JERICHO'S ROAD

Seven-time Spur Award–winner and the author of more than 40 books, Kelton serves up another action-packed western with this sixth volume in his Texas Ranger series. The Texas-Mexico border in the 1870s was a bad place for gringos and Mexicans alike: both sides raided, rustled and murdered to settle old scores from the days of the Alamo and the Mexican War. Texas Rangers Andy Pickard and Farley Brackett are assigned to an understaffed Ranger company along the Nueces Strip, a bit of desert fought over by Mexican rancher Guadalupe Chavez and Texas land baron Jericho Jackson, and they quickly realize that keeping these enemies apart will be a deadly job. An ill-advised killing and a coverup cause Jackson to declare all-out war on the Chavez family, with the Rangers caught in the crossfire. Andy and Farley try desperately to stop the killings but are hampered by a commander who'd rather just let both sides kill each other off. As ambushes and gun battles leave lead-perforated vacqueros and cowboys all over the desert, the Rangers determine that there's more to the feud than family loyalty, racism and old insults. Once again, Kelton offers an exciting tale in which the bad guys are really bad and some of the good guys are, too. His characters are sharply defined, the historical background is vivid and the gunplay can't be beat. Agent, Nat Sobel . (Nov.)