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Patrick Dearen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Big Spring, Texas, The United States

Website

http://patrickdearen.com/

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction

Influences

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Leigh Brackett ...more

Member Since

July 2012

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A 2022 inductee in the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, Patrick Dearen is the author of 19 novels and 10 nonfiction books, including primary-sourced histories. Born in 1951, he grew up in the small West Texas town of Sterling City. He earned a bachelor of journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and received nine national and state awards as a reporter for two West Texas daily newspapers.

An authority on the Pecos and Devils rivers of Texas, Dearen also has gained recognition for his knowledge of old-time cowboy life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he preserved the firsthand accounts of 76 men who cowboyed before 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, have enriched Dearen’s novels. His newest nonfictio A 2022 inductee in the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, Patrick Dearen is the author of 19 novels and 10 nonfiction books, including primary-sourced histories. Born in 1951, he grew up in the small West Texas town of Sterling City. He earned a bachelor of journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and received nine national and state awards as a reporter for two West Texas daily newspapers.

An authority on the Pecos and Devils rivers of Texas, Dearen also has gained recognition for his knowledge of old-time cowboy life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he preserved the firsthand accounts of 76 men who cowboyed before 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, have enriched Dearen’s novels. His newest nonfiction work is "Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River," the first environmental history of the Pecos.

His middle-grade novel, "Halloween on the Butterfield Trail," was published in 2025 by TCU Press. That same year, his novel for adult readers, "The Big Dry," was named a finalist for the prestigious Spur Award of Western Writers of America. In 2024, his novel "Grizzly Moon" was also Spur Award finalist.

Dearen's 2022 novel was "The End of Nowhere," based on the events in Porvenir, Texas in 1918, when Texas Rangers and accomplices--without authorization--executed 15 men and boys of Mexican heritage in retaliation for the Brite Ranch Raid of Christmas Day in 1917. No solid evidence linked any of the executed individuals to the raid, and no one was ever indicted for participating in the executions.

Other recent novels are "Haunted Border" and "Apache Lament," both of which received awards. Other award-winning fiction titles include "Dead Man's Boot." and "The Big Drift," winner of the 2015 Spur Award for Western Traditional Novel. This work is set against the backdrop of the actual big drift of 1884, when a blizzard drove hundreds of thousands of free-ranging cattle down from the Great Plains into Texas. He has also authored the novels "To Hell or the Pecos" and "Perseverance," the latter work set along the rails in Depression-era Texas.

Dearen has received awards for his books from Western Writers of America, Western Fictioneers, Academy of Western Artists, Will Rogers Medallion, San Antonio Conservation Society, West Texas Historical Association, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, and Permian Historical Society. A backpacking enthusiast and ragtime pianist, he makes his home in Midland, Texas. ...more

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Combine Editions
Patrick Dearen’s books

Average rating: 3.91 · 292 ratings · 65 reviews · 41 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Big Drift 3.89 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 2014 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead Man's Boot 3.96 avg rating — 27 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Grizzly Moon really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 21 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Apache Lament 4.05 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saddling Up Anyway: The Dangerous Lives of Old-Time Cowboys 3.65 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2006 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River 3.81 avg rating — 16 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Haunted Border (Five Star Western Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 15 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Hell or the Pecos, a novel 4.31 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cowboy of the Pecos 3.92 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 1996 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	When the Sky Rained Dust 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Patrick Dearen's Blog

2024 Spur Award finalist

Western Writers of America (WWA) has named my novel "Grizzly Moon" a finalist for the prestigious 2024 Spur Award for western traditional novel.

Since 1953 the Spur Awards have honored the nation's most outstanding works in western literature. My novel "The Big Drift" won the Spur Award in 2015, and another of my novels, "When Cowboys Die," was a finalist in 1995.

WWA will honor the 2024 finalists a Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 11, 2024 09:13 • Tags: award, bears, grizzly, spur-awards, texas-fiction, western-novels

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Series by Patrick Dearen

The Big Drift (2 books)
by

Patrick Dearen (Goodreads Author)

3.91 avg rating — 64 ratings

Lone Star Heroes (3 books)
by

Patrick Dearen (Goodreads Author)

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings

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Patrick’s Recent Updates

Patrick is now friends with GEN. Bricks
Dec 18, 2025 08:02PM · like
Patrick made a comment on Clyde Henke’s review of The Big Drift " See the sequel, "The Big Dry." Published in 2024 by Texas Christian University Press, "The Big Dry" was named a finalist for the 2025 Spur Award of We ...more "
Jun 22, 2025 06:39PM · see review
Patrick made a comment on Mark’s review of The Big Drift " See the sequel, "The Big Dry." Published in 2024 by Texas Christian University Press, "The Big Dry" was named a finalist for the 2025 Spur Award of We ...more "
Mar 21, 2025 07:44PM · see review
Patrick made a comment on Jacqulyn’s review of The Big Drift " See the sequel, "The Big Dry." Published in 2024 by Texas Christian University Press, "The Big Dry" was named a finalist for the 2025 Spur Award of We ...more "
Mar 21, 2025 07:44PM · see review
Patrick made a comment on Tim Smith’s review of The Big Drift " See the sequel, "The Big Dry." Published in 2024 by Texas Christian University Press, "The Big Dry" was named a finalist for the 2025 Spur Award of We ...more "
Mar 21, 2025 07:44PM · see review
Patrick made a comment on Roman Milner’s review of The Big Drift " Thank you for your remarks. In regard to the "unsatisfying" ending, see the sequel, "The Big Dry." Published in 2024 by Texas Christian University Pre ...more "
Mar 21, 2025 07:43PM · see review