Five Star First Edition Westerns - Wild Horse River

Spur Award-winning author

The river is the dividing line between the ranchers on one side and the people who live on Banjo Mesa on the other. The election of Jim Bruce as sheriff of the county was a vote of defiance on the part of the small ranchers against large rancher, Holt Klein. When the owner of Gray's Crossing over Wild Horse River is murdered, Klein insists the evidence points to the Banjo Mesa people. Jim remains unconvinced, an attitude that infuriates Klein.

Jim Bruce is the sheriff of San Marcos County. He ran for office because Holt Klein ran him out of the ranching business, and he won because the rest of the citizens expected him to end Klein's ruthless domination of the county. So far that hasn't happened, and another election looms. When two law-abiding locals are bushwhacked, Bruce suspects Klein and is determined to see him hang. It won't be easy, but this time Bruce may have found Klein's Achilles' heel--in the form of the rancher's randy young wife. The late Overholser's novels are as contemporary in tone and character driven as any in the western genre. Here we have a hero who may have to compromise his personal standards--in love and on the job--to survive. Moral dilemmas, a romantic triangle, tough men, gunplay, and horses: what western fan could ask for more? A delight for armchair saddle tramps. Originally published as part of an anthology in 1949. Wes Lukowsky
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