The Return of the Wolf

by Larry D. Sweazy

"Josiah Wolfe quits the Texas Rangers and returns home to find himself in the middle of a family feud. The Langdons and the Halversons have been fighting over land as the townfolk fled after losing out on a railroad junction. Morris Langdon has vowed revenge on Josiah and the Texas Rangers for the hanging of his older brother. The Halverson family holds a grudge against Josiah for leaving with their young grandson. The Texas Rangers are called in to end the feud after the county sheriff is murdered. Josiah is accused of the killing. Will the Rangers help Josiah clear his name, or will they treat him like a cold-blooded killer? Or is the feud nothing more than a ploy by Morris Langdon to exact his revenge and gain control of Anderson County once and for all?"--


PRAISE FOR LARRY D. SWEAZY

"A lively blend of mystery, action, and historical realism."
—John D. Nesbitt, Spur Award-winning author of Trouble at the Redstone

"Top-notch Western entertainment."
—James Reasoner, Spur Award-nominee and author of Trackdown

"Raw, wild, and all too human."
—Johnny D. Boggs, Spur Award-winning author

"Sweazy is a superb storyteller."
—Phil Dunlap, author of Cotton's Devil

300 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2024

About the author

Larry D. Sweazy (pronounced: Swayzee) is the author of nineteen novels and five series: the Trusty Dawson series (LOST MOUNTAIN PASS, THE BROKEN BOW), WHERE I CAN SEE YOU, a standalone thriller, the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series (SEE ALSO MURDER, SEE ALSO DECEPTION, SEE ALSO PROOF), the Sonny Burton series (A THOUSAND FALLING CROWS, THE LOST ARE THE LAST TO DIE, WINTER SEEKS OUT THE LONELY), the Lucas Fume Western series (VENGEANCE AT SUNDOWN, ESCAPE TO HANGTOWN), the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series (THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON, THE SCORPION TRAIL, THE BADGER'S REVENGE, THE COUGAR'S PREY, THE COYOTE TRACKER, THE GILA WARS, and THE RETURN OF THE WOLF), and THE DEVIL'S BONES, a standalone mystery.

He won the WWA Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013, and the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for books the Josiah Wolfe series. He was nominated for a Derringer award in 2007, and was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010, and won in 2011 for THE SCORPION TRAIL. In 2013, Larry received the inaugural Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year for THE COYOTE TRACKER, presented by the Academy of Western Artists. He received the Willa Award in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Indiana Authors Award in 2020, both for SEE ALSO PROOF. The Western Fictioneers (WF) awarded THE RETURN OF THE WOLF the Peacemaker Award for Best Western in 2020.

Larry has published over one hundred nonfiction articles and short stories, which have appeared in ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE; THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE: AND 25 OF THE YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES!; BOYS' LIFE; HARDBOILED; Amazon Shorts, and several other publications and anthologies. He is also a freelance indexer and written over 1000 indexes since 1998. He lives in Indiana with his wife, Rose, and is hard at work on his next novel.

Reviews

[Stephen Terrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Larry Sweazy is just a really good storyteller. Period. Whether he's writing a cozy mystery, or a story about a broken-down retired Texas Ranger in the depression-era Texas Panhandle -- or writing a western, like this -- he tells stories full of rich characters, filled with action with never a wasted page.

The Return of the Wolf marks the return of 1870s Texas Ranger Josiah Wolfe after a hiatus of several years. Wolfe has left the rangers to return to the family farm where he grew up, to raise his son. But the land he returns to is not the peaceful town he left. A blood feud has erupted between two families, one of them Wolfe's former in-laws (In the first Wolfe book, his wife died giving birth to his son).

The feud draws Wolfe and his Mexican housekeeper into the deadly dispute, and when the Texas Rangers show up to bring peace, Wolfe finds himself being drawn back into the life he left behind.

Excellent read. Even if you normally don't read westerns, this one is worth it.

[Boyd L. Randolph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one yet....

Of the Josiah Wolfe books this one is the best. It reflects the author's growth, understanding, and development as a storyteller.