Border Bandits

THE RANGER #2

By Dan Mason

Harper, March 1991

The Ranger: Hard, sharp, fearless. He’d face down the devil himself to bring evil to justice in the untamed West.

Border Blood: Violence on the sizzling no-man’s land between Texas and Mexico is nothing new. It seems one side always has what the other wants – money, power, freedom. Now, a new series of brutal raids by a ruthless band of brigands has handcuffed the local law. In rides Texas Ranger Lex Cranshaw. Outnumbered or not, he vows to bring one of two things to the border – peace or blood.

So how do you find a brutal band of bandits when you have no idea where to find them? This is the problem that author Dan Mason gives Texas Ranger Lex Cranshaw, and this is the hook that kept me turning the pages. 

Cranshaw starts the investigation alone whilst waiting for a fellow Ranger to join him. Along the way he will find himself accepting the help of others and trying to stop more joining the chase, especially a padre named Murtagh. The padre believes he has reason to ride with The Ranger, Cranshaw believes the man is out of his depth and, as I expected, things don’t work out the way either want.

Bandits, Rangers and those caught up in the hunt are well drawn, each having their own character traits that make them a joy to read about. The story contains plenty of action, some of the deaths and discoveries of corpses quite gruesome in their description. Pacing is excellent and the plot takes a twist when the Mexican Army get involved – not liking that Texas Rangers are operating on their side of the border without permission. 

The final showdown between The Ranger and the bandits is exciting and bloody. Everything is tied up neatly but not everyone survives, giving the story a hard-hitting ending that left me looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Dan Mason is a pseudonym for author Charley McDade. 

Cover art is by Larry Schwinger.

The Ranger

as by Dan Mason

Harper, December 1990

A cryptic note sends ranger Lex Cranshaw deep into Texas on the trail of the brutal killer behind a series of horrific and unexplained hangings. The murderous trail leads him to a town choked with stark fear, dark secrets – and warnings in hot lead. Cranshaw has vowed to stop at nothing to exact justice for the victims, whose numbers are still growing…and the next number up could be his own.

Dan Mason sure believes in staking the odds against his hero. Nobody in this story has time for the Ranger, in fact most would rather see him gone – or better yet, dead.

The story is told in a hard-boiled style and has some memorable dialogue exchanges, particularly at the end of the opening chapter.

Mason also keeps the reader guessing as to who is carrying out the killings and why, although the mysterious start to the tale soon becomes a traditional western plotline.

Cranshaw is an interesting character, his failing perhaps being his driving need to see the job through, and to do this without any help; a need that gets him into all kinds of dangerous situations.

This is a fast moving, tough tale, that includes a couple of mysteries along the way, that proved to be a satisfying read, which means I will be picking up the next book in the series sometime soon.

Dan Mason is a pseudonym for Charley McDade.