Oh, You Tex!

Set in the Texas Panhandle during the rough years when the Rangers were bringing order to a lawless cattle frontier, this 1920 Western follows Jack Roberts, a young line-rider who earned the nickname Tex by defending his home state out in New Mexico. Roberts takes a Ranger’s badge under Captain Ellison and is soon pulled into ranch feuds, rustler trouble, and the murder of a leading cattleman. His pursuit of the killer runs alongside a slow-burning romance with Ramona Wadley, the daughter of the outfit he rides for. Raine handled both the manhunt and the courtship with the understatement he favored for his heroes. He was among the most widely read frontier novelists of his day, and the book shows why: brisk action, clean plotting, and a lead who trusts deeds far more than talk.