A Novel of the American West
When the guns fell silent at Palmito Ranch in May 1865, three destinies collided in the dust of a dying war.
In the tradition of classic Western storytelling comes a bold new voice that dares to turn the telescope around. Horse Ranger weaves together three unforgettable journeys across the brutal landscape of Reconstruction-era America, where love defies hatred, vengeance stalks honor, and an unlikely narrator holds up a cracked mirror to reveal the heart of humanity itself.
Lance Jacobs, a Confederate cavalry lieutenant, awakens from the war’s final battle with a shattered leg and a soul in desperate need of healing. In the sterile halls of a Union hospital, he discovers an impossible love with Emma Watson, his Black nurse—a romance that blazes against the gathering storm of racial hatred threatening to tear the South apart.
Matt Hudson, seventeen and burning with dreams of heroic gunplay, rides a thousand miles from South Carolina to the Texas borderlands, driven by a thirst for vengeance that will test every fiber of his manhood. Tricked into believing Lance murdered his brother, Matt’s journey becomes a collision course with destiny itself.
And then there is Light—Lance’s war horse, narrator extraordinaire, and perhaps the wisest fool in all of Texas. Cast adrift after the battle, Light embarks on adventures both thrilling and absurd, recounting his equine exploits with the wit of a frontier philosopher and the heart of a true companion. Like a satyr from ancient times, Light holds up that broken mirror, asking the most dangerous question of all: Is it really you looking back?
Part sweeping romance, part coming-of-age odyssey, part rollicking animal adventure in the spirit of Lassie Come Home, Horse Ranger proves that the themes of Western literature are far from exhausted. This is a new comet blazing across the Wild West sky—one that illuminates not just the untamed frontier, but the untamed country of the human heart.
The war may be over, but the real battle for America’s soul has just begun.