Friday, December 29, 2017

FFB Review: Texas Vigilante (Ellie Taine Book Two) by Bill Crider

After running again the double take review of OUTRAGE AT BLANCO last week, it seemed fitting that on this final Friday of 2017, I run my 2014 review of the second book in the series, TEXAS VIGILANTE. As I have said before, Bill Crider is incapable of writing a bad book. Period.
As a reader, I want to thank Bill for the many hours his books provided of reading pleasure and sheer escapism in my life. Many a hour was spent reading works by Bill while sitting in waiting rooms, doctor offices, by Sandi’s bedside as she slept, etc., over the years and I always knew if I had a Bill Crider book with me, I could escape reality for awhile.
I also thank him for being a friend all these years while cancer wreaked havoc on our lives. We shared so much and he was always a huge help to me as both the occasional good news as well as the more frequently bad news came down the pipeline. I hope I was able to return the favor.
For the rest of this week’s reading suggestions, please head over to Patti Abbott’s blog. You also ought to be reading her books too. Just saying. May your Friday be a good one and please stay safe this holiday weekend.

Originally published in 1999 by Dell Books, Texas Vigilante is a sequel to Outrage in Blanco. Some of the events of the first book are mentioned in Texas Vigilante and, by necessity, in this review so you have been warned.


It has been a few months since Ella Taine took over Jonathan Crossland’s ranch after he died. These past months have not been easy. Ranching in Texas is difficult things were such that she had to go into debt to a bank in San Antonio. She didn’t like doing it, but she had and so far things are holding together. She has good help and that includes Lane Tolbert. She recently hired him as he was desperately in need of a job to support his wife, Sue, and his very young daughter. Ellie cares about Lane and his wife a lot, but she absolutely adores Lauire. That smart and beautiful little girl is the daughter Ellie never had and her presence is almost like she is her own child. One of the real pleasures is sitting down and reading with her.


Mr. Crossland had an office with a small library of books by authors such as Irving, Cooper, Melville, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, and others. Laurie is not quite ready for Shakespeare, but the other books she can handle. Their latest read features a skinny school teacher by the name of Ichabod Crane and a certain headless horseman. Neither Ellie, Laurie, or the others on the ranch have any idea that a real life horror is about to be visited upon them thanks to a prison escape and a certain prisoner bent on revenge.


Following the very good Outrage at Blanco isn’t easy, but Bill Crider does it masterfully in Texas Vigilante. Like in the preceding book, the theme of revenge is again a major part of this western as are the choices folks make as they move through life.  Ellie is, by necessity, not as much a part of everything as in the first book, but she makes herself well known in a novel that cracks with a gunshot every few pages. A mighty good western, Texas Vigilante is a good one and quite the sequel to Outrage at Blanco.


Texas Vigilante (Ellie Taine Book Two)
Bill Crider
Brash Books
September 2014
ASIN: B00KAJX6BQ
eBook (also available in paperback)
304 Pages
$2.99


Using funds in my Amazon Associate account I picked this up to read and review awhile back.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2017

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