Hot Iron and The Time It Never Rained (Mass Market)
Description
With Hot Iron and The Time It Never Rained, this omnibus by legendary Western writer Elmer Kelton offers two complete novels of the American West at one low price
Hot Iron
In the early days of the Texas panhandle, starting a new life is hard, but keeping it is even harder. Espy Norwood is a troubleshooter already wrestling with a slew of problems when he lands a job on a ranch on the Texas plains—and more trouble finds him. Bitter landowners plot against him, determined cattle thieves sneak right under his nose, and his own son refuses to trust or even know him. Can he catch the thieves, save the ranch, and win his son’s love?
The Time It Never Rained
To the ranchers and farmers of 1950s Texas, man’s greatest enemy is one he can’t control. With entire livelihoods pegged on the chance of a wet year or a dry year, drought has the ability to crush whole enterprises, to determine who stands and falls, and to rob workers and their families of food. To Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent, and cantankerous rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a foe he must fight on his own grounds. Refusing the questionable “help” of federal aid programs, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again—if it ever will.
About the Author
Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was the 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 were 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.
Praise For…
“One of the greatest and most gifted of Western writers.”
—Historical Novel Society
“Elmer Kelton is a Texas treasure.”
—El Paso Herald-Post
“Voted ‘the greatest Western writer of all time’ by the Western Writers of America, Kelton creates characters more complex than L’Amour's.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Kelton writes of early Texas with unerring authority.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“You can never go wrong if . . . you pick up a title by Elmer Kelton.”
—American Cowboy
“One of the best.”
—The New York Times
“A splendid writer.”
—The Dallas Morning News
“A genuine craftsman with an ear for dialogue and, more importantly, an understanding of the human heart.”
—Booklist