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Texas Paladin #1

Texas Paladin

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Jubal Coe, a Texas Ranger, rides in one night to find his house burned to the ground with his wife, Julia, and two children inside. He finds out the three men still alive who were involved and dedicates his life to bringing them to justice. The story takes place in 1880 Texas, a harsh land with an equally harsh code of justice. The outlaws fight back, seriously wound Jubal, and flee into the West thinking their adversary is now dead. But Jubal is not dead. He recovers with help from Maddy Hastings and seeks out each killer and takes care of business. The Texas Rangers were among the toughest lawmen ever in the West, and Jubal Coe proves to be one of the very best.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2017

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R.O. Lane

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5 stars
2,047 (63%)
4 stars
864 (26%)
3 stars
261 (8%)
2 stars
46 (1%)
1 star
21 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
34 reviews1 follower
September 2, 2018
4 star rating

The beginning of this book drew me in it was sad that Jubal Coe had lost his family to cold blooded killers,the hunt for the men kept me interesting until Rubal got ambushed by one of the men and nearly died a woman he friended in a saloon named Holly took him home and cared for him until he was well from his gunshot wound.I lost interest interest in the book and was a little disappointed when he fell in love with her and they got married and was still looking for the killers of his wife and children,where was his loyalty to her memory and why so soon after their death. Maybe some readers will see this differently but to me it was in bad taste
994 reviews10 followers
July 26, 2025
5 STARS, THEY MURDERED JUBAL'S FAMILY

5 STARS for this poignant & exciting gritty tale of 3 criminals who wanted to sleep with Jubal Coe's wife, but with her Texas Ranger not due home for several more hours, she had to take the pistol & rifle & retreat with her young son & daughter to her bedroom. She managed to shoot Ness in the arm & cripple it; it was his idea, plus he was the leader of the 4 men considered among life's losers. Messed father owned a huge cattle ranch which is one reason he thought & could get away with things. His father paid people off. Also, Ness usually covered the other 3 men's expenses. Now, the Rangers wife has scarred 2 of them, totally crippled Ness's arm, & gave one of them a severe wound that killed him, Ness's best friend since grade school whose body they left lying in the ranch yard when they rode away. However, Ness was so angry that the Ranger's wife thought she was better than letting him have her body for some fun only for about an hour that he got coal oil out of the barn & had them pour it over & around the house. Then they blocked the doors & windows & set the Ranger's little family on fire. They were scared & crying but finally succumbed to the smoke, thank goodness. Their bodies were touched by the fire but not completely consumed to.ashes by it. Very Evil men did this. The Ranger arrived home with his house burned completely down & had to wait hours for everything to cool off to be able to retrieve & bury the bodies.
His Commander sent 2 Texas Rangers to investigate the incident & to also inform everyone including all active law enforcement that Jubal Coe was still an active sworn legal Texas Ranger & authorized to arrest, investigate, or even shoot/kill if necessary for the law. He wanted western union Telegraph to send out & notify Sheriff's in the likely areas the bad guys might run to.
Then, in Laramie the 3 poor excuse for men ambushed Jubal while he was trying to pick up their trail. Laid him up for almost 2 months plus he still was building up his strength & had lost their trail. He had nothing but cold trails so he had to really try to see how he might help narrow his search. Plus, Jubal missed Maddie who had found him in the street & had him carried on an old. door to her small house & sent for the Doctor. She stayed out of work in order to nurse him until he was able to get up & about.
This is a shoot-em-up gun action packed storyline that the action starts with the first sentence & keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, page turner. One you can't & don't want to miss out on!

So far there are 2 more in a Text Pal (abbreviated) Series, hopefully more will follow; because love the characters, genre, & author. Oh yeah & the 1 st book of the Series, with these ingredients keep em coming.

RECOMMEND
1,249 reviews23 followers
April 17, 2018
Jubal Coe, TEXAS RANGER

Homegrown psychopathic killers and their followers, that's what this adventure is about. The persistence of a husband and father to locate the killers of his family, who were burned to death.
The paths these men took trying to escape from the consequences of their actions, wasn't going to be easy. Jubal Coe a Texas Ranger, was away from his ranch attending a trail in another town, his wife Julia and their two children were alone on the ranch, when Donnie Ness and three of his friends tried to enter the house stating they wanted to have fun..bottom line Julia killed one and wounded the other three. So crazy psycho Donnie sets the farm a fire, and Julia and her two children succumbed to smoke inhalation..sad sad
horrific scene.
People do stupid hurtful things and get away with it, especially if they have wealthy parent who cover for them...you know, pay off the law and the law ignores what the "BULLY" do and lots if people suffer. This story illustrates the depths families will go to protect the wayward child.
The Texas Rangers and local towns/cities were on the look out for Donnie Ness and his friends.
The west was a lawless place filled with all types of degenerates walking around hurting, bullying, murdering, raping anyone they choose or got in their way. VENGEANCE was the answer, but sometimes that didn't work... such as the life in the W E ST.
1,398 reviews13 followers
June 30, 2018
Had a hard time giving this story it's just dues, but mission accomplished. R. O. Lane did an exceptional job with this wonderful and very heartwarming story. I am, as always, significantly impressed with Mr. Lane's Lane's exceptional knowledge and apparent knowledge of our true old American west, as I have not read a disappointing story of his yet. This one was magnificent and very entertaining.

A very family-friendly story with plenty of ongoing adventures throughout the entire book. I have been impressed with each and every novel by Mr. Lane that I have had the opportunity to read, this far. I will be buying another exciting adventure story by him in the immediate future!

This story was definitely impressive and the storylines were descriptive and filled with exciting gunplay, romance and takes of successful achievement, with enough "oh woe is me" thrown in to keep me interested. Too, the characters were perfectly selected for the most part and the situations were descriptive adventures of the true old western folklore.

Most definitely recommend this book for all lovers of real American western adventures, as you will be filled to capacity from beginning to end. You will be captivated from beginning to end as the excitement never ceases throughout the entire book. Marshal Coe is definitely a man's man and never ceases his quest throughout the entire story! Great job by a master author!
Profile Image for Joan Cooke.
65 reviews1 follower
June 12, 2019
Excellent as always

It's a shame that an author of such talent is published in ebooks. Don't get me wrong, I love the price and availability of them, however, the authors are paid a pittance and as such cannot quit their day jobs. Happily R.O. Lane is prolific to an unreal degree! I read many genres: collect hundreds of books, all of which I read. I come back again and again to Lane because the stories are tight, characters well written and believable. You may assume there is a dearth of potential plot or story lines; they are western after all, but Lane's writing is such that you never seen to be bored. I don't turn pages to get past the blah blah blah parts as there simply aren't any. I am drawn into the story, the people and their actions and while sad to finish one story it just means I can start another. Lastly, for those of us for whom spelling and grammatical errors are head banging frustrations they are minimal or absent in all Lane's books. It is a pleasure to read these books. If you haven't read Lane or the western genre read one of his and be prepared to become a fan.
1,109 reviews17 followers
January 5, 2024
A soft 4. You can't have it both ways. One minute our hero is a grief strickened man vowing to avenge the horrific murder of his adored wife and children. The next minute....okay it was about three months later he's gaga over a local saloon girl. I've had dogs I mourned longer then that. Seriously. But don't think she was a whore. She just danced with the saloon patrons for a dollar a throw. She didn't screw them. She must have been some dancer considering cowpokes only made a dollar a day. But it was money well spent I'm sure.
Now don't get me wrong the H does keep to his vow to find his family's murders. In fact he marries twinkletoes and they make it a part of their honeymoon trip. I've never been a fan of the I'll never get over my dead wife trope. However I find the "I can't grieve for whatshername forever"trope distasteful. C'mon you frigging horny toad. Wait till the body is cold.
That being said I still like the basic story. So I gave it a soft 4 which is my way of saying it's a 3.5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Gene Steinbacher.
168 reviews4 followers
September 28, 2018
Good story but lacked details

Usually I complain that books are too long because they went into way to much detail about mundane subject matter. This book had the opposite problem for me. There was no detail on any of the characters. No description of what they looked liked. No background or history of their lives so you could get an idea of why they think the way the do. It made it difficult to sympathize with the characters. Having said that, I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good western.
Profile Image for Dave Glorioso.
147 reviews3 followers
October 10, 2018
Revenge in the Wild West

I enjoyed this book as a quick read involving revenge in the Wild West. It moved quickly with short sentences and fast narrative. The protagonist is easy to root for. The author does a good job of not making the characters fully good or bad. Yet, they clearly understand their choices as right or wrong.
Criticisms include the short sentence style which created pace but lessened the narrative.
Also, there were some violent scenes separate from the main story that seemed out of place and not how a Ranger should behave.
3.5/5
10 reviews
October 12, 2023
A great Texas Ranger story

I met a Texas Saladin in North Miami Beach in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew at the hotel where we were staying. His group had on black uniforms, thigh holsters with 9mm weapons. They all had sack lunches and were boarding a bus headed south.

He told us they were with the Paladins, a private security company called in to guard the prison and area hardest hit by the storm. He said their weapons were loaded and most were (on leave) Texas State Police or Rangers going on patrol with National Guard Troops.

529 reviews3 followers
May 11, 2024
Texas Paladin

The story of the Texas Ranger in 1800s is history and every time I get a chance to read an author’s story of Texas Rangers, I read their stories with interest. Although law enforcement has changed, being a member of this group is a proud calling and in some cases a thankless job. But enforcement of Justice and the law as outlined clearly in our Cconstitution, the Bill of Rights and governance by the people, for the people and of the people is essential to a free people. Once again R.O. Lane has delivered another great story.
3,198 reviews26 followers
April 13, 2018
A Texas Ranger Western/Texas/New Mexico/California/,Nevada

RIO has penned a western about Texas Ranger whose wife and children were murdered and the house set on fire killing the Ranger wife and two children by burning them alive. The Ranger traced the killers and eliminated them one by one. During the chase the Ranger was injured and a woman cared for him. They both fell in love. This is an excellent read for the genre.....ER
25 reviews
June 20, 2018
Same o same o. The hero happens to be the fastest and most accurate shootist, e v e r. And lives high on the Hog and is financially well off. This is the standard script it seems.

I gave it 3 stars because the hero character is so "standardized, fastest best shot. Has no shortage of funds and lives high on the hog. Never a shortage of $$$. I loove a good western, but I bet this is standard scripting for R. O. Lane.

181 reviews1 follower
November 29, 2019
Jubal was a Texas Ranger whose wife and children were killed by local villains. He set off on a trail of vengence that took across several states with a near-death injury. He was nursed back to health by a saloon worker who became very important to him. The protagonist continued his journeyed and slowly eliminated the villains one by one. The leader took him to California and back to Nevada where he finally had the opportunity to wreck his final vigilance.

Joubal returned to the saloon worker that had become the love of his life.
This was an intense fast paced story in which right over comes evil.


33 reviews
April 13, 2018
Texas Paladin

I read this book after enjoying reading the 4 book Will Fain series. I liked the Will Fain series so much I looked for other books by R.O. Lane and found this one. I have a terrible memory so in 6 or 8 months I will be able to enjoy them again. I recomend any of his books to anyone who enjoys Westerns. I hope he writes many more western books.
Profile Image for Masina Lane.
258 reviews6 followers
May 28, 2018
Manhunter

When a Texas Ranger returns home and finds his wife and children have been murdered and his home burned down around them, he starts a hunt that won't stop until the killers are dead. This is a well written, fast moving Western. I look forward to reading more from this author.
132 reviews4 followers
August 14, 2018
Another hit western. Full of action.

A devastating loss of home and family. A Texas Ranger that won't stop. He lets his gun card and almost cost his life, but found new love who helped finished his journey. A woman who shoots and stands to cover his back, and knows how to survive.
240 reviews2 followers
August 17, 2018
Texas Paladin

One of the best, if not the best western stories by this author. Great story line and we'll written. Jubal Coe is a never give up U.S. Marshal who dogs his target relentlessly. Can't wait to get into the next exciting adventure by R.O. Lane. You cowboys will surely enjoy this book. So, "Giddy Up."
109 reviews
November 4, 2018
Good short read

This was a good entertainment read. I think for the most part the characters were true to form. It flowed pretty well and maintained my interest. It was a little too predictable and I think the characters could have been a little deeper. I will probably read another of the authors books down the road.
222 reviews7 followers
January 26, 2019
Texas Rangers always get their man.

Great story about a great group of lawmen. I have lived in Texas most of my life and we are extremely proud of this group of law enforcement officials. I have known a couple of Rangers personally and they were both the finest men I have ever met. Good writing, if you enjoy good Western stories your gonna love this one.
Profile Image for john petta.
6 reviews
March 8, 2022
Well as a ranger he was well healed

It just kept coming like the deputy I expected the bad guys to at least have some luck but you can't fix stupid but the more evil you are it seems you can slime your way out of trouble to be honest when everyone went after him I expected him to back track and take the rangers wife them have her shoot his dumb ass lol
29 reviews
March 4, 2025
R.O. Lane illuminates the Paladins of the early frontier of the United States. I am thankful for their existence. Fictional characters or not, we needed that type of individual to propel our society into a civil society. Many uncivil characters were stopped in their traps by our paladins. Great story.
66 reviews
April 25, 2018
Good one.

A story where the fabeled Texas Ranger, Jubal Coe, relentlessly chases down the bad guys who killed his family. All the action i like in a western
I've already bought 2 more books by R. O. Lane.
8 reviews1 follower
June 9, 2018
Wonderful story

I sat down and read this story in one afternoon....was so good couldn't put it down....I have downloaded the the Will Fain books and can't wait to get started on then
10 reviews
July 5, 2018
Great story

I love these story’s. He does a wonderful job making you feel a part of the story It’s hard to put the book down until you finish the story. I am reading all of his books.
837 reviews4 followers
August 2, 2018
4 Star's

Jubal Coe comes home to find his house burned with his wife and children inside. Doesn't take him long to figure out who done it. So he hunts them down one at a time and justice is served. Good book.
178 reviews3 followers
August 12, 2018
Very good short western story

I like R.O. Lane. Books the tend to keep you interested and the stories are true to life in the old west. I will keep reading his books and look towards any new stories.
6 reviews
September 20, 2018
Good book

Thrilling book of western life and love. Seems like the tanacity of never giving up is the basis of the story. I think the concept of love by the author is his best writing trait.
Profile Image for Marjorie.
2,099 reviews4 followers
September 27, 2018
Very good story

I enjoyed this book of the west. I have family from TX, NM, AZ, CA . I have relatives from the late 1800's who were in gun battles over land. I am almost 80 so the stories have gotten forgotten by a lot of people. Thanks for a good story.
569 reviews3 followers
December 6, 2018
Great book!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the character of Jubal Coe and his unrelenting chase of the bad guy who murdered his wife and children. The only thing I questioned was the fact that he fell in love with another woman three months after his wife was killed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews

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