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Ryan Rides Back
Book by Crider, Bill
- GenresWesterns
280 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 1988
About the author
Bill Crider
242 books235 followersTaught English at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Tex., and went on to become the chair of the Division of English and Fine Arts at Alvin Community College in Alvin, Tex.; prolific writer of mystery, science fiction, western, horror, and children's books, not to mention short stories, articles, reviews, and blog posts; perhaps best known for his Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery series.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 3, 2018
Under the guise of a ‘Hay Burner’ western, Mr. Crider presents us with “Ryan Rides Back” which is really a thinly disguised mystery. The driving plot line asks the question, “who killed Ryan’s sister”. As with many books in the western genre the story is a tale of revenge.
After the antagonists bring Ryan to the brink of death, and abandon him to die, he is saved by an Indian medicine man who finds him out in the desert, shot up, back nearly broken and an unusable arm.
It seems Ryan and his sister owned some land that one of a family of ‘bad’ guys wants for himself, and what better way to obtain their desired plot of land than to kill the current owners.
It takes Ryan quite a period of time to recover physically, and the medicine man also teaches Ryan ‘calmness’. One day Ryan reads in a newspaper that a man was to be hanged for the crime of killing Ryan’s sister. Ryan thinks the man is innocent of the murder and he rides back into town to rectify the situation.
At times the story is a bit melodramatic and a bit of a cliché. It made me ask the question as to why so many western protagonists must take on the guise of John Wayne ? Like “get your hands off my woman”. Am I quibbling here ? I am quite fond of Bill Crider’s work and his philosophical outlook, his high regard for animals, and his easy story telling style.
After the antagonists bring Ryan to the brink of death, and abandon him to die, he is saved by an Indian medicine man who finds him out in the desert, shot up, back nearly broken and an unusable arm.
It seems Ryan and his sister owned some land that one of a family of ‘bad’ guys wants for himself, and what better way to obtain their desired plot of land than to kill the current owners.
It takes Ryan quite a period of time to recover physically, and the medicine man also teaches Ryan ‘calmness’. One day Ryan reads in a newspaper that a man was to be hanged for the crime of killing Ryan’s sister. Ryan thinks the man is innocent of the murder and he rides back into town to rectify the situation.
At times the story is a bit melodramatic and a bit of a cliché. It made me ask the question as to why so many western protagonists must take on the guise of John Wayne ? Like “get your hands off my woman”. Am I quibbling here ? I am quite fond of Bill Crider’s work and his philosophical outlook, his high regard for animals, and his easy story telling style.
June 21, 2020
Ryan comes back to town, he was ambushed three years ago, left for dead, one can tell from his ride, he isn’t the same. Nor are the people in Shatter’s Grove since that night. A tight woven plot on redeeming one’s legacy, the forgiveness. Not revenge because of a person name, or who they were to marry. A new author and I enjoyed the story and narration, was good.
Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
February 24, 2022
A great Western.
Ryan Rides back to his town of Tularosa.
Some thought he was dead. Some thought he was a coward, who'd ran away and left his sister all alone.
Now his sister is dead and a man is going to hang for it.
But Ryan thinks the man is innocent....
Now he has to prove it and settle some old scores.
A great read.
Really enjoyed it
Ryan Rides back to his town of Tularosa.
Some thought he was dead. Some thought he was a coward, who'd ran away and left his sister all alone.
Now his sister is dead and a man is going to hang for it.
But Ryan thinks the man is innocent....
Now he has to prove it and settle some old scores.
A great read.
Really enjoyed it
August 9, 2015
It has been three long years since that late fall night that Ryan vanished from Tularosa. Many in the western town thought he was dead. Considering the physical shape he is in now as he rides into town it is amazing he didn’t die that night when Kane and his men ambushed him outside of town. Considering the shape he is in mentally something in him did die that night.
One of those ambushers was a Kane brother known to one and all as Bill Kane who is about to hang for the murder of Ryan’s sister, Sally. Whether he did it or not is not the issue for many in the town who feel the tyranny of the Kane family. It didn’t take the jury long to convict him of the murder. After all, Bill Kane was found standing over the body by Pat Congrady who runs the hardware store. The same Pat Congrady that everyone around knew loved Sally and knew would never hurt her. The fact that a Kane was involved and thus could be punished for the sins of the family meant more too many than whether or not he actually did it.
Pat Congrady had been planning on marrying Sally Ryan right up until she died. It had been three long years because everything changed when Ryan vanished. Kane got the Ryan land leaving Sally nothing but a small shack to live in. After Ryan vanished and everyone thought he was dead, Sally was never the same and won’t be ever again.
Why Ryan is back isn’t clear to anyone---even Ryan himself. The events that happened that night in Shatter’s Grove changed the lives of all who were there and several that we are not. Ryan is back and will be forced to confront his past and the legacy he left behind.
A solidly good western with a couple of surprises along the way, Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story is a read far different from the author’s various mystery series. A western novel of personal redemption and forgiveness, much of the read is spent in the past as Ryan tries to adjust to life in the present. Delving deep into the psyche of the main character means that some of the various distant secondary characters are little more than one dimensional type figures with little depth to them. Interspersed with Ryan’s journey of redemption, are sections devoted to other important characters and their perspective. Their various situations are often complicated and were changed significantly; either directly by the events in Shatter’s Grove and his subsequent disappearance or indirectly by way of ripple effects. Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story is a solidly good western tale that works well from start to finish.
Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story
Bill Crider
http://www.billcrider.com
Crossroad Press & Macabre Ink Digital
http://crossroadpress.com/
September 2010
ASIN: B0042RV8KI
E-Book
188 Pages
$2.99
Material was recently purchased to read and review using funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
One of those ambushers was a Kane brother known to one and all as Bill Kane who is about to hang for the murder of Ryan’s sister, Sally. Whether he did it or not is not the issue for many in the town who feel the tyranny of the Kane family. It didn’t take the jury long to convict him of the murder. After all, Bill Kane was found standing over the body by Pat Congrady who runs the hardware store. The same Pat Congrady that everyone around knew loved Sally and knew would never hurt her. The fact that a Kane was involved and thus could be punished for the sins of the family meant more too many than whether or not he actually did it.
Pat Congrady had been planning on marrying Sally Ryan right up until she died. It had been three long years because everything changed when Ryan vanished. Kane got the Ryan land leaving Sally nothing but a small shack to live in. After Ryan vanished and everyone thought he was dead, Sally was never the same and won’t be ever again.
Why Ryan is back isn’t clear to anyone---even Ryan himself. The events that happened that night in Shatter’s Grove changed the lives of all who were there and several that we are not. Ryan is back and will be forced to confront his past and the legacy he left behind.
A solidly good western with a couple of surprises along the way, Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story is a read far different from the author’s various mystery series. A western novel of personal redemption and forgiveness, much of the read is spent in the past as Ryan tries to adjust to life in the present. Delving deep into the psyche of the main character means that some of the various distant secondary characters are little more than one dimensional type figures with little depth to them. Interspersed with Ryan’s journey of redemption, are sections devoted to other important characters and their perspective. Their various situations are often complicated and were changed significantly; either directly by the events in Shatter’s Grove and his subsequent disappearance or indirectly by way of ripple effects. Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story is a solidly good western tale that works well from start to finish.
Ryan Rides Back: A Wild West Story
Bill Crider
http://www.billcrider.com
Crossroad Press & Macabre Ink Digital
http://crossroadpress.com/
September 2010
ASIN: B0042RV8KI
E-Book
188 Pages
$2.99
Material was recently purchased to read and review using funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
September 6, 2021
Ryan returned to Tularosa where found by Sallys body with a bloody knife. Kane still has same gang, his younger brother Billy, Barstow, Long.
Who wanted her, who she wanted, we dont know till the end. Ryan gets beaten repeatedly.
Who wanted her, who she wanted, we dont know till the end. Ryan gets beaten repeatedly.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews