Hard Trail To Follow

New York: Forge, 2008. M3 - A 2nd printing hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Elmer Kelton to previous owner on the half-title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket and book have some bumped corners, light discoloration and shelf wear. Hard Trail To Follow, with several surpise twists at the end, is the seventh novel in Elmer Kelton's acclaimed Texas Ranger series. 8.5"x5.75", 287 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Who killed Sheriff Tom Blessing? Andy Pickard, former Texas Ranger, is following the plow on West Texas land belonging to the Brackett family. He is engaged to Bethel Brackett but at odds with her troublesome brother, Farley. Andy may not be cut out for the farmer's life. With Bethe's understanding, Andy departs the farm to settle his mind and plan his future - an innocent ambition until his Ranger past and the Ranger code of justice intervene. Andy is visiting a friend, Sheriff Tom Blessing, when a trio of bank robbers led by a man calling himself Cordell escapes from the county lockup. In the ensuing shoot-out, Blessing is killed. Andy wounds the youngest of the felons, but all three wounds the youngest of the felons, but all three manage to get away. Newly reinstated as a Ranger Andy Pickard picks up their trail. Luther Cordell not only makes a hard trail to follow, but he turns out to be an enigmatic figure - not the cold-blooded killer Andy expects. Cordell put his own life in danger trying to save the life of the young man Andy shot at the jail and wins the confidence of the wounded boy's mother. Andy leans that Cordell is not the killer of Tom Blessing, but the robber-ringleader must be brought to Ranger justice and the rest sorted out later. . Signed by Author. 2nd Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.