Texas Showdown: Two Texas Novels

by Elmer Kelton

Elmer Kelton writes of his beloved home country of West Texas in these two novels of cowmen and cow country. In Pecos Crossing , two young cowboys, Johnny Fristo and Speck Quitman, have been cheated of six months’ hard-earned salary by their rancher boss Larramore and intend getting what is due to them. In Shotgun , Texas rancher Blair Bishop has to contend with a rival cowman who is turning his herd loose on Bishop‘s land, and with a mean customer named Macy Modock, who Bishop sent to prison ten years past. Modock is out of the hoosegow and has returned determined to get even with the man who sent him up the river.

Genres: Westerns

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2007

About the author

Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was award-winning author of more than forty novels, including The Time It Never Rained, Other Men’s Horses, Texas Standoff and Hard Trail to Follow. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for 42 years. He served in the infantry in World War II. He died in 2009.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/elmerk...

Reviews

[Ron]

This book is actually two short novels by Elmer Kelton, first published in the 1960s and reissued under one title by Forge in 2007. Pecos Crossing, originally titled Horsehead Crossing (1963), appeared under Kelton’s own name, while Shotgun, originally titled Shotgun Settlement (1969), was published under a house pseudonym, Alex Hawk.

First off, Elmer Kelton is one of my top-10 favorite western writers. He wrote with a strong sense of history and an informed awareness of the West Texas terrain, its flora and fauna, and its weather. I find it easy to believe in his characters. They are not just convenient types but possess an emotional depth that makes them three-dimensional...

More at my blog.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun and entertaining, quick reads.

"Did you notice how he looked at her?"
"Like a coyote lookin’ at a cottontail rabbit."

Patience was part of a manhunter’s stock in trade -- difficult to learn, but indispensable.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't get enough of these novels! Gritty and fast paced. You can feel the dust of South Texas in your teeth! And its two novels for the price of one!

[Dan Panke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two great stories from Elmer Kelton.

[Dennis O'Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read - I enjoy Kelton's writing

[Jason Bergsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elmer Kelton's Texas Showdown features two novels: Pecos Crossing and Shotgun

In Pecos Crossing, the novel follows a pair of cowboys caught up in and blamed for an accidental killing. The victims husband, a once-Texas Ranger and a famed tracker and manhunter aims to take their lives as justice.
The characters are well developed for a short novel and you get a true sense of both justice and revenge.


In Shotgun, the novel follows two men. One, a gritty man fresh out of the penitentiary after serving more than a decade. The other, a well known and respected rancher who helped send the other to prison. The ex-con, now trying to get his revenge legally and without ending up back behind bars.
With politics at play, justice to be served and mystery to be solved, I found myself loving this second novel. Story-wise, it really reminded me of a story similar to the TV show Yellowstone, only much better.


Over all I ended up liking the second novel better than the first, making for a slow start followed by a quick read to end.

[Austin West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Texas Showdown, which brings together two Elmer Kelton Texas novels, turned out to be a very satisfying read. Both stories were strong, but the second one in particular pulled me in with its blend of romance, mystery, and thriller elements wrapped in classic Western dialogue and landscape. Kelton’s deep knowledge of the West shines through every page, giving the stories an authenticity that makes them easy to sink into even if nothing is objectively extraordinary. Overall, both novels were enjoyable, and the second was genuinely hard to put down.

[William Hubbartt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two solidly written western novelas. Enjoyed both.