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Texas Outlaw #2
A Cold Hard Trail
"The devil's on my tail, and he's wearing a badge. Arrested for a robbery I didn't commit, I broke out of jail and took it on the 1 a.m. I had no choice. No sheriff's going to believe I have a double-unless I find the outlaw myself. If I live that long."
The Fosterville sheriff's bagged a few outlaws. The trouble is, Kid Parmlee, his buddy Zeb, and his Pa are dead ringers for bandits who took a stagecoach and made off with a fortune in gold. First step for the Kid and his partners is to make a fast getaway before they get hanged. On the run, and trapped between a trigger-happy lawman and a trio of hard-core desperadoes, the Kid finds himself outnumbered and outgunned. All he has now is raw nerve and blind rage to clear his name and escape the cruel plains alive.
In Kid Parmlee, Spur Award-winning author Robert Conley has crafted a fearless flesh-and-blood adventurer who lives and breathes the West as it really was.
The Fosterville sheriff's bagged a few outlaws. The trouble is, Kid Parmlee, his buddy Zeb, and his Pa are dead ringers for bandits who took a stagecoach and made off with a fortune in gold. First step for the Kid and his partners is to make a fast getaway before they get hanged. On the run, and trapped between a trigger-happy lawman and a trio of hard-core desperadoes, the Kid finds himself outnumbered and outgunned. All he has now is raw nerve and blind rage to clear his name and escape the cruel plains alive.
In Kid Parmlee, Spur Award-winning author Robert Conley has crafted a fearless flesh-and-blood adventurer who lives and breathes the West as it really was.
- GenresWesterns
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 15, 2001
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10 people want to read
About the author
Robert J. Conley
81 books36 followersRobert J. Conley was a Cherokee author and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized tribe of American Indians. In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 8, 2022
Kid Parmlee and his partner Zeb Pike get mistook for bank robbers, and work on clearing their names.
Told in a "Western" vernacular, it's a bit of a struggle to get into, but is worth it once you get past that.
The Kid is a good protagonist and the story seems to be more about his misadventures along the way rather than a gunfight on every page.
The action is good when it gets going, with the usual mix of good and bad folk that you'd expect.
Told in a "Western" vernacular, it's a bit of a struggle to get into, but is worth it once you get past that.
The Kid is a good protagonist and the story seems to be more about his misadventures along the way rather than a gunfight on every page.
The action is good when it gets going, with the usual mix of good and bad folk that you'd expect.
May 17, 2017
Not a fan. If you like Western genre novels you might take more away from this than I did. However, I found the characters to be dull, including the protagonist. I did not appreciate the way dialogue was inserted, it often felt clunky. And I was definitely not a fan of the colloquial inner-monologue of the main protagonist.
Not for me. But maybe if you like Westerns give it a try.
Not for me. But maybe if you like Westerns give it a try.
July 18, 2017
Pretty good book in the Western genre. Didn't quite compare to the likes of Lonesome Dove and Comanche Moon but still good and a much shorter undertaking than the other two. Favorite part of this book had to be the character names. Kid Parmlee is a great cowboy name in my opinion and his pards, Old Churkee and Zeb Pike have some killer names as well.
January 6, 2018
"A Cold Hard Trail" by Robert J. Conley is a western with an unreliable hero by the name of Kid Parmlee. The Kid is an undersized youthful gunslinger whose heart is usually in the right place, or at least on this side of the law except when he is on the wrong side. And, heights... The Kid hates heights. Adventurous and fun.
August 26, 2023
Another fun outing with the Kid! Great series, great writing!!
September 28, 2019
I really tried to read this novel. I have read other books by Conley including non-fiction The Cherokee Nation: A History and three works of historical fiction , Mountain Windsong, Wil Usdi, and Cherokee Dragon. I have developed an appreciation for Conley; his books are well researched, his prose interesting, and his subject matter highly relevant.
That said-> I was looking fwd to reading one of Conley’s western novels. Although the story line is well crafted, I am a fast reader and I found A Cold Hard Trail too cumbersome to read, continually tripping over the author’s attempt at “Western Dialect” prose.
It is regrettable the author chose this writing style; it may have been better if Conley had just written in traditional readable English. There are very few books that I put aside without finishing, A Cold Hard Trail is one
That said-> I was looking fwd to reading one of Conley’s western novels. Although the story line is well crafted, I am a fast reader and I found A Cold Hard Trail too cumbersome to read, continually tripping over the author’s attempt at “Western Dialect” prose.
It is regrettable the author chose this writing style; it may have been better if Conley had just written in traditional readable English. There are very few books that I put aside without finishing, A Cold Hard Trail is one
July 29, 2013
I like a good Western. This was one did not have a great plot and the authors attempts at dialogue fell flat to the point of amnoying me big time. Every new character entered, they became Ole X. No matter how long they were arround: Ole Chastain, Ole Red, Ole Weaver, Ole Churkee, Ole Etcetera. Where was his editor?
June 21, 2014
Once you become comfortable with the vernacular Kid Parmlee grows on you. lol.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews