Reviewing: "Texas Standoff: A Novel of the Texas Rangers" by Elmer Kelton

“There's nothin’ like local politics to cause a fight. If I had my way, I'd put all the politicians on a boat at Galveston, sail it out into the Gulf, and sink it.”(Page.42)

A sentiment that reverberates today as it did in the 1800s in this recent release by celebrated novelist Elmer Kelton. The world lost quite a literary figure with his death in 2009. This book is the ninth and final installment of the Texas Ranger series.

Newly married Texas Ranger Andy Pickard is thinking that it is about time to leave the Rangers and settle down. The bean counters are getting worse down in Austin, his wife Bethel is urging him to quit and making it hard for him to leave when he has to, and this latest mission is not worthy of his talents. Morning than anything, Ranger Andy Pickard is tired of all the nonsense and has a small patch of land on the nearby Guadalupe river near Kerrville waiting for him.

Instead of going after somebody who matters, he is being sent after a lowly thief by the name of Japer Biggs. Seems like Sergeant Ryker wants this particular chicken thief in jail as the local area is in turmoil and things could get worse the longer he is allowed to run free. But, the guy is a chicken thief and that sort of thing does not rank very high on Pickard’s dangerous criminal list. If that is not bad enough, the sergeant is sending Logan Daggett with him. Pickard knows Daggett by reputation only and that reputation is not a good one. Not only would he rather work alone, Pickard also has to defer to the older Ranger which bugs him quite a bit from the start.

Pickard and Daggett leave the company tent area on the San Saba River near Fort McKavett and head to Junction, Texas on the Llano River in Central Texas. Daggett’s tracking skills come in handy but his people skills leave a lot to be desired making him a source of constant conflict with nearly everyone. Not only do the two Texas Rangers find their chicken thief, hey also find a lot more trouble with some of it their own making.  A blood feud between the patriarchs of the McIntosh and Teal families, the desire by some to start fencing the range land and the ominous presence of the “regulators” are just some of the issues that Pickard and Daggett, who rarely see eye to eye, must confront in this fast moving 248 page novel.

“Andy argued, ‘a man is supposed to be considered innocent till he's proven guilty.’

Daggett grunted. ‘What idiot said that? Everybody's guilty of something.” (Page 241)

In this novel, they usually are. Elmer Kelton once again brings the old west alive for readers in terms of characters and settings. These people exist beyond the page to take shape in the mind’s eye. With a bit of romance, lots of mystery, and plenty of action, this is another example of why Elmer Kelton was so good.

Texas Standoff: A Novel Of The Texas Rangers

Elmer Kelton

http://www.elmerkelton.net/

Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (Forge)

http://www.tor-forge.com

September 2010

ISBN# 978-0-7653-2579-2

Hardback

284 Pages

$24.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2011

Reviewing: "The New Western Home" by Chase Reynolds Ewald

I originally picked this book up at my local library to review it for a future column in the Senior News newspaper. My monthly column covers books that are either written by Texas authors, set in Texas, or of interest to Texans. Space limitations mean I have four hundred words maximum to cover two books a month.



However, once I got the book home and started reading it, I quickly realized this book didn't really fit the column requirements too well. That was a shame as this is a beautifully photographed book full of design ideas that honor the old classic traditions of the west and meet today's concerns about the environment. This blending of the old and the new results in detailed coverage of fourteen very different homes located across several western states. In each case, there are numerous pictures of the home from outside and inside. A detailed text accompanies the pictures and includes not only information about each house as well as the environment at that location and how the house was constructed to meet environmental goals.

After an extensive introduction by author Chase Reynolds Ewald that explains the purpose of the book while also documenting some of the beauty of Montana and the struggle to save that beauty for future generations, the book opens with a post and beam home in Marin County, California. This is the area of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore among other protected lands. The local area also features numerous ranches devoted to cattle and dairy farms. As such, the depicted classic red wood barn fits right into the landscape. Readers are treated to an explanation and history of the home as well as numerous pictures inside and outside. Simplicity is the key here except for the incredible kitchen photographed by Audrey Hall on page 31.

The photography makes the book and features the wonderful work of photographer Audrey Hall on every page. Those pictures detail history in a modern world where it is the Bar 20 Ranch in Montana, an incredibly spacious and breathtaking fishing cabin on the banks of the Yellowstone River, the new prairie home in Paradise Valley, or many others showcased in this book. While the text can explain over and over again what was done and how it was done, the incredible photographs are what tell the tale in this fantastic book.

This homage to the west, particularly the Wyoming/Montana area, continues for 173 pages before leading into a two page resource list featuring the builders and architects, furniture makers, artists and many others that were involved that created the stunning homes in this book. Unlike many such books that feature sterile homes that no human family could ever live in, these are homes that people do own and live in everyday. These owners are lucky people and so too are readers who get to peer inside for a while.


The New Western Home
Chase Reynolds Ewald
Audrey Hall (Photographer)
http://www.audreyhall.com
Gibbs-Smith
http://www.gibbs-smith.com
2009
ISBN# 978-1-4236-0255-2
Hardback
176 Pages
$30.00


Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.


Kevin R. Tipple (c) 2010