The Devil's Rope

Rocking R Ranch #2

by Tim Washburn

From acclaimed storyteller Tim Washburn, the second adventure in a thrilling new saga of the Old West, the sprawling story of one frontier family--and the Texas home they fought for, lived for, and died for...

The Ridgeway family faces their greatest challenge when a devastating drought threatens to spark an open range war, forcing them to fight for their ranch, their dream--and their lives...

It's the summer of 1883. A severe drought threatens to bankrupt the Ridgeway's Rocking R Ranch and every rancher in northwest Texas. The cattle are thirsty and hungry. The ranchers are getting desperate. And a simple new invention called barbed wire--the devil's rope--is their only defense against illegal herders grazing on their land. Percy Ridgeway and his brother Eli are working overtime to stake a fence around their sixty thousand acres. But someone keeps cutting the wires. The Ridgeways keep fixing them. And soon Perry is tangled in a high-stakes showdown with a thieving cattleman named Northcutt and his cutthroat henchmen. Let the battle begin...

History would call it the Fence Wars of 1883. The Ridgeways would call it the summer they fought back--come hell or dry water...

Genres: Westerns

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published December 29, 2020

About the author

After graduating with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma, Tim Washburn spent several years working in the television business. He's worked as a photographer, producer, special projects director, and programming director both in Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Shortly After the birth of their first child, he and his wife made the decision that Tim would be a stay-at-home dad, while doing some freelance journalism jobs on the side. Tim's been president of the PTA, a soccer coach, a volleyball coach, and a life coach.

Tim knew from a young age that I wanted to write, but it wasn't until several years ago that he turned his focus to writing and founds his passion.

Tim hopes his novel entertains you and that some of that characters may linger long after the book is finished .

Reviews

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first western I’ve read from Tim Washburn, and overall I thought it was pretty solid. The Ridgeway family is likable, especially Percy, who’s pretty much the protagonist of this one, though there are quite a few supporting characters. I enjoyed the story of the two women making a life changing decision and joining the family, and I also liked the appearance of true life lawman Bass Reeves. There’s a decent amount of action and enough happens that the story never gets boring, and the pace never really lets up. It’s about 400 pages and none of them were boring.

I was surprised at how little the barbed wire actually had to do with the story, since that’s what the title implies. It starts off with the Ridgeway family reacting to their fences getting cut, and it comes up again in the latter third of the novel, but that’s about it. Also, I wish we learned what happens to the train porter, Benjamin Gaines. The ending seemed to be a bit random with how the rest of the story played out, but it still worked. I would read from this author again.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good western, and this one is definitely good, maybe even great! Tim Washburn continues to expand the Rocking R Ranch's Rideway family and their commitment to building a Ridgeway dynasty in 1880's Texas. Drought is just the newest problem in a long list of what next? The story is set during the range wars that pitted ranchers against free rangers so we get to see lots and lots of action. Washburn writes a pretty good western!!!

[Dusty Pruitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Trails

The second book continued on and finished what the first didn’t. I think I could read about this family all day. A lot of great characters. Happy trails as what Roy and Dale Evans sang at the end of their show. I thought it fitting for the end of this book. This was a great series. Awesome read. Big D

[Doug Yonce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of action with multiple characters and adventures happening all the time. I feel that it missed having a unifying factor to pull it all together and provide a complete ending. I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Ed Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Rocking R series

I hope there will be more installments to this series. I really enjoyed the characters and the story. The events of their lives and how they handled them make rhe bokk.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

I've read all 3 of the Rocking R Ranch Western series and I recommend all of them, they're exciting and interesting. I look forward to reading more of Tim Washburn novels. I didn't want to put them down once I started reading them.

[Samantha Rogowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first western. It was pretty good. I just felt it was a little repetitive. The same topic and written almost the exact same way would be there multiple times. The book could have been shorter without that.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil's Rope continues the Rocking R Ranch series by Tim Washburn. I really liked it. Four stars.

[Ray Ratliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story of friends and family in the early day's of our west.

[Vaun Fiedler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating

Life can be crazy! With a family owned ranch in the 1880s extended family get into hazardous situations without trying! Train wrecks and kidnapping: follow the action.

[Avard MacPhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not one to read a lot of westerns but enjoyed this story of life on and off the ranch. 4.1 Stars

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly a great read! Not my typical read, but it was entertaining and really enjoyable.

[Corey Foght · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author's way of protesting characters and moving the story forward