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Christmas in the Lone Star State
Jason Manning’s authentic take on the American West has earned him legions of fans. Now he’s back with a brand-new Western set in the rough-and-tumble Texas frontier. ’Tis the season. . . A LAWMAN PAST HIS PRIME Texas Ranger Bill Sayles rode scout for Sam Houston when he was no more than fifteen. These days the lawman’s on the wrong side of three score years, and the glory days of the Rangers are on the wane. But Sayles still hits what he aims at and is not a man to cross. Ten days before Christmas in the harsh winter of 1876, Sayles arrives at the state prison in Huntsville to escort prisoner Jake Eddings on a furlough to his hometown, where his ten-year-old son is being laid to rest. A PRISONER PAST ALL HOPE In a desperate scheme to save his farm, Eddings took part in a stagecoach holdup in which the driver was killed. After serving two years of a fifteen-year sentence, he is already a broken man. Despite the agony of regret, he longs to see his wife and bury his beloved boy. But when Sayles gets wind that the murderous Litchfield brothers are headed in the direction of Eddings’ farm, the Ranger and his prisoner join forces to keep Eddings’ wife from harm—and maybe grab a last shot at redemption.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Jason Manning
70 books13 followersJASON MANNING was born and continues to live in Texas. An avid reader and history buff from an early age, he favored the works of C.S. Forester, Jack London, Bret Harte, Ernest Haycox, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. He started writing short stories when he was twelve. He is currently writing his 54th novel, to be published in 2016 by St. Martin's Press.
His first book, Killer Gray, was published in 1979; he did not write his second novel, Gunsmoke on the Sierra Line, until ten years later; it was published in 1989 by Zebra Books. He wrote five more titles for Zebra, Revenge in Little Texas, Texas Helltown and Showdown at Seven Springs among them. From 1990 until 1996 he wrote fourteen novels for HarperCollins using the pseudonym "Hank Edwards," including Gun Glory, Lawless Land, Lady Outlaw and Steel Justice in The Judge series, and the stand-alones Ride for Rimfire, Thirteen Notches, Apache Sundown and Gray Warrior. He also wrote two other westerns for HarperCollins under the pen name "Dale Colter." Beginning in 1993, Dutton Signet began publishing Manning's longer historical/western novels, such as High Country, Green River Rendezvous, Flintlock, Promised Land, American Blood, The Black Jacks, The Marauders; the six Gordon Hawkes novels -- among them Mountain Massacre and Mountain Courage; and the six Barlow novels -- The Long Hunters, War Lovers and Apache Shadow among them. In addition, he wrote six westerns for St. Martin's Press -- the Ethan Payne trilogy (Frontier Road, Trail Town and Last Chance), and the Westerners series of biographical novels: Gun Justice, The Outlaw Trail and Gunmaster. In November 2016 his newest western, Christmas in the Lone Star State, will be published by St. Martin's Press.
As an historian, Manning has taught at Stephen F. Austin State University, Southern Illinois University, and Montgomery College in Texas. His website The Eighties Club is widely regarded as an excellent resource on the history and pop culture of the 1980s. He has been active in wildlife conservation with a particular interest in wolf recovery. And, most importantly, he is the father of three remarkable children -- Nick, Connor and Grace.
His first book, Killer Gray, was published in 1979; he did not write his second novel, Gunsmoke on the Sierra Line, until ten years later; it was published in 1989 by Zebra Books. He wrote five more titles for Zebra, Revenge in Little Texas, Texas Helltown and Showdown at Seven Springs among them. From 1990 until 1996 he wrote fourteen novels for HarperCollins using the pseudonym "Hank Edwards," including Gun Glory, Lawless Land, Lady Outlaw and Steel Justice in The Judge series, and the stand-alones Ride for Rimfire, Thirteen Notches, Apache Sundown and Gray Warrior. He also wrote two other westerns for HarperCollins under the pen name "Dale Colter." Beginning in 1993, Dutton Signet began publishing Manning's longer historical/western novels, such as High Country, Green River Rendezvous, Flintlock, Promised Land, American Blood, The Black Jacks, The Marauders; the six Gordon Hawkes novels -- among them Mountain Massacre and Mountain Courage; and the six Barlow novels -- The Long Hunters, War Lovers and Apache Shadow among them. In addition, he wrote six westerns for St. Martin's Press -- the Ethan Payne trilogy (Frontier Road, Trail Town and Last Chance), and the Westerners series of biographical novels: Gun Justice, The Outlaw Trail and Gunmaster. In November 2016 his newest western, Christmas in the Lone Star State, will be published by St. Martin's Press.
As an historian, Manning has taught at Stephen F. Austin State University, Southern Illinois University, and Montgomery College in Texas. His website The Eighties Club is widely regarded as an excellent resource on the history and pop culture of the 1980s. He has been active in wildlife conservation with a particular interest in wolf recovery. And, most importantly, he is the father of three remarkable children -- Nick, Connor and Grace.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 16, 2016
I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.
I am such a fan of the Western novel and it's been such a long time since I've read one. This book was absolutely a great vehicle to showcase the writing talent of Jason Manning. The characterization of this older man, Bill Sayles, is absolutely spot-on for how I want to think the Texas Rangers of old would have approached a problem. Bill Sayles is older than any Ranger I've ever read a story about, but he still completely exemplifies that grit and determination I want to associate with how a Ranger would go about his job. Right is right and a Ranger always does right, but he's also human and adaptable and self-reliant so when he comes across something that might not be written in the Ranger's rule book, he uses his best judgement and improvises.
Sayles travels through a terribly cold winter in 1876 to pick up a prisoner and escort him to attend the funeral of his son. Six or seven days it will take for them to travel by horseback to their destination and be back at the Huntsville prison. Bill doesn't spend much time wondering how this prisoner was granted this compassionate leave, he just goes about doing his job. Naturally the journey to Cameron and the funeral doesn't go smoothly, but it was a great reading experience to watch Bill Sayles use his wits and his courage to handle all the adversity which came their way on the trip. For a Texas Ranger, Bill Sayles is getting up there in years. His body has suffered a lot during his lifetime of belonging to one group or another, but always with the purpose of finding and capturing the bad guys. How much more abuse can he take and still survive?
Highly recommended for those readers who love the novels of the frontier west and the people who made it great. Rose colored glasses.....sure, but still a marvelously written example of how I want to think people were back in those hard times.
I am such a fan of the Western novel and it's been such a long time since I've read one. This book was absolutely a great vehicle to showcase the writing talent of Jason Manning. The characterization of this older man, Bill Sayles, is absolutely spot-on for how I want to think the Texas Rangers of old would have approached a problem. Bill Sayles is older than any Ranger I've ever read a story about, but he still completely exemplifies that grit and determination I want to associate with how a Ranger would go about his job. Right is right and a Ranger always does right, but he's also human and adaptable and self-reliant so when he comes across something that might not be written in the Ranger's rule book, he uses his best judgement and improvises.
Sayles travels through a terribly cold winter in 1876 to pick up a prisoner and escort him to attend the funeral of his son. Six or seven days it will take for them to travel by horseback to their destination and be back at the Huntsville prison. Bill doesn't spend much time wondering how this prisoner was granted this compassionate leave, he just goes about doing his job. Naturally the journey to Cameron and the funeral doesn't go smoothly, but it was a great reading experience to watch Bill Sayles use his wits and his courage to handle all the adversity which came their way on the trip. For a Texas Ranger, Bill Sayles is getting up there in years. His body has suffered a lot during his lifetime of belonging to one group or another, but always with the purpose of finding and capturing the bad guys. How much more abuse can he take and still survive?
Highly recommended for those readers who love the novels of the frontier west and the people who made it great. Rose colored glasses.....sure, but still a marvelously written example of how I want to think people were back in those hard times.
April 3, 2019
A great Texas tale about an aging Ranger and a guy who had made a big mistake.
An exciting and fun read.
An exciting and fun read.
December 7, 2017
Would liked for more Christmas traditions in the story that would have taken place during that time. The title would have been good for a non-fiction book on the Christmas traditions in Texas.
December 24, 2016
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.25 of 5
I've been on a bit of a western fiction kick lately (note that this is "western review week"). As I've mentioned in other reviews, it's often difficult to find new western fiction, so it was especially pleasing to come across, and be granted ARC access to Christmas in the Lone Star State by Jason Manning.
Bill Sayles is a Texas Ranger and has been for a very long time. He's not a man to cross and he's dedicated to his job. Currently he is on his way to a state prison in Huntsville to pick up a prisoner, escort the prisoner to his home to attend the burial ceremony of his son, and then escort the prisoner back to Hunstville. The prisoner, Jake Eddings, is serving fifteen years in the hard prison for his part in a stage-coach robbery in which the driver of the coach was killed (not by Eddings). Now in prison, Eddings' ten year old son has passed away. Jake's wife is working hard to overcome the loss of the two men in her life, and is forced to find a way to keep the farm going. The neighbor is trying to move in on the Eddings farm and on Jake's wife. The temptations for Jake to flee Sayles' custody are tremendous.
Author Jason Manning does a very nice job of establishing the two main characters: Bill Sayles and Jake Eddings. Both seem like real people, but drawn from some common expectations of characters in this genre. Bill, the tough, unflappable lawman and Jake the nice guy who made a mistake and now everything around him is crumbling. Jake is set up as very likeable and the reader wants to see him avoid going back to the horrible conditions at Huntsville.
We know pretty early on what's going to happen. In fact, one day when I was about half way through, I was telling my wife what I was reading and what had happened to that point. I don't believe my wife has ever read a western in her life, but she told me exactly how it would end. And she was right.
The rest of the characters are rather stereotypical. There's no depth to them - they're stock characters because we need to know a little bit about them so that we understand motives and behavior of Bill and Jake. This is a bit disappointing. Jake's wife should be a motivating factor in everything he does, but she only appears near the end. The Hunstville Prison officials are set up nicely as real villains. Cruel and sadistic, they are strong motivation for the reader not wanting Jake to return there, but they appear only briefly at the start and then they are forgotten. While the through-line of Bill and Jake is pretty tight, the story and characters around them is loose and not very noteworthy. This story seemed episodic - two characters moving from moment to moment with the moments not really connecting.
Christmas in the Lone Star State? Let's face it ... the fact that this story is set around Christmas time has absolutely no meaning. In three months the book could be re-released with the title Easter in the Lone Star State and you wouldn't have to change anything except the word Christmas to Easter (twenty times).
I like the main characters and I liked the basic story, but the entire thing needed a stronger editing hand and more cohesion.
Let's take a moment and talk about the cover (as seen above). You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we know that, but a cover does serve an important purpose. A cover lets the reader know what sort of story we are about to read. It usually identifies the genre. You can almost always tell at a glance which books are space opera, or fantasy, or hard science fiction, or mysteries, or horror, or romances, or westerns. The publisher wants you to know because they want to draw you in to the book. Certain styles become expected for certain genres. Sometimes those styles change, but you should always be able to tell what you're going to read.
This cover does not say "western" to me. This says "romance." This cover should be titled "Tammy's Christmas Romance at the Dude Ranch" or some such. This cover does NOT say 'tough Texas Ranger escorting criminal home to bury pre-teen son before Christmas.'
Think I'm kidding...?
Shall I go on? (That last one might actually be a better cover for this book!) This is not the author's fault, of course, but the publisher certainly isn't helping.
Looking for a good book? Christmas in the Lone Star State is a western by Jason Manning that doesn't have a whole lot to do with Christmas (or with the fact that it's in Texas, for that mater), but has a couple of solid characters who are tough and morally principled. It can be fun for fans of the genre.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I've been on a bit of a western fiction kick lately (note that this is "western review week"). As I've mentioned in other reviews, it's often difficult to find new western fiction, so it was especially pleasing to come across, and be granted ARC access to Christmas in the Lone Star State by Jason Manning.
Bill Sayles is a Texas Ranger and has been for a very long time. He's not a man to cross and he's dedicated to his job. Currently he is on his way to a state prison in Huntsville to pick up a prisoner, escort the prisoner to his home to attend the burial ceremony of his son, and then escort the prisoner back to Hunstville. The prisoner, Jake Eddings, is serving fifteen years in the hard prison for his part in a stage-coach robbery in which the driver of the coach was killed (not by Eddings). Now in prison, Eddings' ten year old son has passed away. Jake's wife is working hard to overcome the loss of the two men in her life, and is forced to find a way to keep the farm going. The neighbor is trying to move in on the Eddings farm and on Jake's wife. The temptations for Jake to flee Sayles' custody are tremendous.
Author Jason Manning does a very nice job of establishing the two main characters: Bill Sayles and Jake Eddings. Both seem like real people, but drawn from some common expectations of characters in this genre. Bill, the tough, unflappable lawman and Jake the nice guy who made a mistake and now everything around him is crumbling. Jake is set up as very likeable and the reader wants to see him avoid going back to the horrible conditions at Huntsville.
We know pretty early on what's going to happen. In fact, one day when I was about half way through, I was telling my wife what I was reading and what had happened to that point. I don't believe my wife has ever read a western in her life, but she told me exactly how it would end. And she was right.
The rest of the characters are rather stereotypical. There's no depth to them - they're stock characters because we need to know a little bit about them so that we understand motives and behavior of Bill and Jake. This is a bit disappointing. Jake's wife should be a motivating factor in everything he does, but she only appears near the end. The Hunstville Prison officials are set up nicely as real villains. Cruel and sadistic, they are strong motivation for the reader not wanting Jake to return there, but they appear only briefly at the start and then they are forgotten. While the through-line of Bill and Jake is pretty tight, the story and characters around them is loose and not very noteworthy. This story seemed episodic - two characters moving from moment to moment with the moments not really connecting.
Christmas in the Lone Star State? Let's face it ... the fact that this story is set around Christmas time has absolutely no meaning. In three months the book could be re-released with the title Easter in the Lone Star State and you wouldn't have to change anything except the word Christmas to Easter (twenty times).
I like the main characters and I liked the basic story, but the entire thing needed a stronger editing hand and more cohesion.
Let's take a moment and talk about the cover (as seen above). You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we know that, but a cover does serve an important purpose. A cover lets the reader know what sort of story we are about to read. It usually identifies the genre. You can almost always tell at a glance which books are space opera, or fantasy, or hard science fiction, or mysteries, or horror, or romances, or westerns. The publisher wants you to know because they want to draw you in to the book. Certain styles become expected for certain genres. Sometimes those styles change, but you should always be able to tell what you're going to read.
This cover does not say "western" to me. This says "romance." This cover should be titled "Tammy's Christmas Romance at the Dude Ranch" or some such. This cover does NOT say 'tough Texas Ranger escorting criminal home to bury pre-teen son before Christmas.'
Think I'm kidding...?
Shall I go on? (That last one might actually be a better cover for this book!) This is not the author's fault, of course, but the publisher certainly isn't helping.
Looking for a good book? Christmas in the Lone Star State is a western by Jason Manning that doesn't have a whole lot to do with Christmas (or with the fact that it's in Texas, for that mater), but has a couple of solid characters who are tough and morally principled. It can be fun for fans of the genre.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 22, 2018
Jason Manning's one of my favorite author, have just about every book he wrote but it's been a while since I read something by him and it made me like this one a lot.
While Christmas in the Lone Star State starts slow, the pace picks up as the story goes along and did like the main character Texas Ranger Bill Sayles. Definitely would make for some good reading should he decide to make a series based on the Ranger.
Not to give anything away. The setting is the rough and tumble Texas frontier, right before Christmas and finds Ranger Bill Sayles heading to state prison in Huntsville to pick up a furlough prisoner.
He picks up Jake Eddings, who basically makes a dumb decision due to the financial situation he's caught in with his ranch and ends up at Huntsville. Sayles is to escort him back to Cameron, Tx. to attend his son burial.
It's a trip that too take six days, which turns into a suspenseful adventure, full of redemption and yes Texas Ranger's are badass tough.
I definitely would recommend Manning's writing, especially his earlier books are real good, historical even and glad that just about everyone of his books are available as ebooks now.
While Christmas in the Lone Star State starts slow, the pace picks up as the story goes along and did like the main character Texas Ranger Bill Sayles. Definitely would make for some good reading should he decide to make a series based on the Ranger.
Not to give anything away. The setting is the rough and tumble Texas frontier, right before Christmas and finds Ranger Bill Sayles heading to state prison in Huntsville to pick up a furlough prisoner.
He picks up Jake Eddings, who basically makes a dumb decision due to the financial situation he's caught in with his ranch and ends up at Huntsville. Sayles is to escort him back to Cameron, Tx. to attend his son burial.
It's a trip that too take six days, which turns into a suspenseful adventure, full of redemption and yes Texas Ranger's are badass tough.
I definitely would recommend Manning's writing, especially his earlier books are real good, historical even and glad that just about everyone of his books are available as ebooks now.
December 23, 2018
Apparently Christmas in the Lone Star State is all murder, rape, abuse of power, more murder, more rape, and reminising about all the genocide you committed in the good old days. (This book has nothing to do with Christmas.) (I suspect westerns are not my genre.) (That said, this book was well written and probably well researched.) (But not a light holiday read.)
February 3, 2018
Christmas In The Lone Star State by Jason Manning. It was a pretty good book. I had a hard time getting into it. Later in the book I enjoyed it. Had action. Had caring. Touching and romance at the end.
May 17, 2022
Mostly sad but a decent ending
October 29, 2016
I have never read anything or even heard of Jason Manning. I usually give a summary of my thoughts on the characters, however there was so many I wouldn't know where to even begin. The book is broken up into days then 3 chapters each day so each day promising something different. I have to say since the book had so many characters added it was hard to keep up with what the storyline was or what the story the author was trying to tell. I seemed that he spent so much time explaining each characters life story to bring them to current to have something happen and then going on to the next one. From what I gather of the story you have a broken Texas ranger who is set to keep the Texas free of all the evil during the late 1800's and he is ask to pick up a prisoner and take him home for the loss of Eddings son. They are met with a ton of challenges along the way and the story goes from there. This book was not for me but may be for the right person I hope my review sums up to give you the best choice to make for you.
November 17, 2016
It could be me, but I felt like I was in slow motion. The reason I say this is the bowie knife, for one. Its back story and history. It had no relevance on the story what so ever (except for him cutting something with it later in the story). I understand that the author probably did a lot of research, however...I don't really need to know about the background of everything. I rate that a 0.5 star.
I liked the characters and story. I just wish this story was a story and not a history lesson. I hate rating this low because this book has a lot of potential.
Positive note...It would make a fantastic John Wayne movie!
I liked the characters and story. I just wish this story was a story and not a history lesson. I hate rating this low because this book has a lot of potential.
Positive note...It would make a fantastic John Wayne movie!
August 2, 2017
A decent historical fiction read set over the span of a few days. Lawman Bill Sayles is escorting prisoner Reddings to see his wife and bury their son. When Sayles learns of a murderous gang heading towards the home of Reddings wife, the furloughed prisoner realizes this may be his last chance at redemption.
November 2, 2016
Sorry, had to do a DNF on this one. It was just too much going on for me. Too many characters to try and keep up with. :(
December 27, 2016
Really a traditional western with a little Christmas thrown in. Great characters, excellent descriptive writing. A fast read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews