Christmas in the Lone Star State

Jason Manning's authentic take on the American West has earned him legions of fans. Now he's back with a brand-new Western set in the rough-and-tumble Texas frontier. 'Tis the season. . . A LAWMAN PAST HIS PRIME Texas Ranger Bill Sayles rode scout for Sam Houston when he was no more than fifteen. These days the lawman's on the wrong side of three score years, and the glory days of the Rangers are on the wane. But Sayles still hits what he aims at and is not a man to cross. Ten days before Christmas in the harsh winter of 1876, Sayles arrives at the state prison in Huntsville to escort prisoner Jake Eddings on a furlough to his hometown, where his ten-year-old son is being laid to rest. a PRISONER PAST ALL HOPE In a desperate scheme to save his farm, Eddings took part in a stagecoach holdup in which the driver was killed. After serving two years of a fifteen-year sentence, he is already a broken man. Despite the agony of regret, he...