Tuesday 30 September 2008

SONS OF TEXAS BY ELMER KELTON


SONS OF TEXAS
ELMER KELTON
£6.99
Forge Paperbacks


I loved this book but then I've yet to come across an Elmer Kelton western that I haven't enjoyed.

The author has a talent for creating credible and likeable characters and his historic detail is always spot on but doesn't stand out in the narrative as happens too often with heavily researched periods. Instead the author mixes the facts seamlessly into the story and by the end of the first page the reader is hooked.


Mordecai Lewis and his sons Michael and Andrew ride into Texas to hunt wild horses. While there Mordecai is killed by Spanish soldiers and the boys have to flee back to American territory.

Years later when the Spanish rulers allow 300 Americans to settle in Texas Michael sees a way to return to Texas and finish the job they finished all those years ago and exact revenge on the sadistic Spanish officer who had blown his father's brains out.


Above all this is a character story but it also serves as a history of the early days of Texan history. I've yet to read any of the other books in this series as I've not seen them anywhere here in the western starved UK but they are available from Amazon and I guess I'll have to order the rest as I enjoyed this book without reservation and am eager to follow the saga of Michael Lewis.

1 comment:

Steve M said...

Did you know this series was originally published under the pseudonym of Tom Early? You might have more luck searching for the books under this author name in both the UK and America as Kelton only wrote the first three, so only those books have been reprinted with his name as the author.

If you want to know the titles of all six books and who the authors are behind the name Tom Early then please email me direct.

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