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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