Hard Ride Across Texas

by Michael Zimmer

Wrangler and Spur Award-winning author Michael Zimmer brings us another page-turning American historical fiction novel. Nineteen-year-old Gage Pardell didn't intend to kill Henry Kalb when he rode into Shelburn, Texas, to confront the son of the county's richest man. He just wanted justice for what Kalb had done to his sister. But now Henry is dead, and Gage is on the run from a gang of vicious bounty hunters hired by Henry's father. With nowhere else to go, Gage heads west toward the far-flung buffalo ranges of West Texas. There, he learns what it means to stand up for himself against a lawless frontier, a kill-crazy buffalo hunter, and the men Kalb keeps sending after him. Realizing he can no longer live this way, Gage finally returns home, completing the journey he began the night he killed Henry Kalb.

346 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2018

About the author

Michael Zimmer is the author of twenty-four novels. His work has been praised by Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, the Historical Novel Society, and others. City of Rocks (Five Star, 2012) was chosen by Booklist as one of the top ten Western novels of 2012. The Poacher’s Daughter (Five Star, 2014) received a starred Booklist review, and was selected winner of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s prestigious Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel (2015); both were finalists for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, and his short story, The Medicine Robe, won the Spur Award in 2019. Among his Westerns is the seven-volume American Legends Collection series.

In addition to Westerns, Zimmer also writes Mysteries, including the Two-Bit Street Mystery series featuring 1940s private eye Lafayette “Lafe” Doyle.

Zimmer resides in Utah with his wife Vanessa and their two dogs. His website is: www.michael-zimmer.com

Reviews

[Jane Kirkpatrick]

just the best!

What a fine novel —Western or otherwise ought to be. Emotionally engaging while transporting readers back to another time and place. I didn’t want it to end and will remember Gage Pardell for a long time.

[Douglas]

Every so often I take a bit of a break from my usual fare of fantasy and science fiction and some days it's not worth it, and some times it's the best thing ever. This book is an example of the latter. I enjoyed this book immensely. The author captures the spirit of the time and of the genre in general as we follow Gage Pardell who's on the run from the vengeance of the father whose son Gage killed. This is a coming of age story for Gage, who begins this story at the age of nineteen and must become a man as a result of his travels.

However underlying it all is a sense of the pursuit of justice. Gage seeks justice for his sister when it is denied her in court, but his young and naive pursuit of justice results in the death of Henry Kalb. Linus Kalb is a contrast to Gage's growing understanding of justice. Gage learns patience in its pursuit, and learns that justice may not always be his to mete out. Sometimes justice even comes from surprising places. Kalb never learns this. He allows justice to be subverted when Henry assaults Ester Pardell, and seeks his own vengeance on Gage Pardell even when Gage is willing to face justice for his mistake. Both Gage's education on justice and Kalb's refusal to accept it have consequences for both.

Gage's journey is an engaging one. Zimmer creates fascinating characters that add to Gage's journey without distracting it. I enjoyed this story a lot. This was an impulse acquisition at the library, and I'm pleased to see he's written more. I plan to read more of Michael Zimmer's westerns when I get a chance.

[Michael Morrison]

Well-written and action-packed story held my attention, as it changed locations and focuses.
It has many and interesting characters, many of whom a reader will care about.
The family at the center of this complex story lives a difficult life as East Texas farmers. Zimmer gives non-detailed descriptions of those difficulties, made worse by one bullying and greedy family.
Probably author Zimmer could have made his protagonist into a series character, with only a few changes, but what he does have here is likely just the way it should have gone.
I recommend "Hard Ride" and I will be seeking more books by Michael Zimmer.