Norman A. Fox

 The Thundering Trail

by

Norman A. Fox

He rode home to bury a father and inherit a war.

When Chan Loring finds his foster father dying from an outlaw's bullet, he inherits two impossible tasks: drive four thousand longhorns across a thousand miles of hostile trail to a promised Montana basin, and recover a small black metal box from the man who pulled the trigger.

That man is Caesar Rondeen—saloon kingpin, master schemer, and the engine behind a twenty-year feud with the Lorings. Rondeen is already one step ahead, his spies sown every mile from Texas to Whispering Basin, and a revelation ready to stop Chan cold: Chan is no orphan foundling at all, but a Rondeen by blood—son of the very outlaw King Loring shot down years ago.

But Caesar Rondeen has held his last ace too long. As Chan pushes the herd through waterless wasteland, Comanche country, granger law, and outlaw ambush—with a bristling foster-brother at his side and the half-Spanish, half-Scots daughter of his rival riding every mile alongside him—the truth unraveling around him may be the one thing that sets him free. The trail decides everything. The only question is whether Chan will survive long enough to let it.

Chan Loring reached home just in time to watch his father die, and to hear the old man’s final command. Drive four thousand longhorns north. Steal a black box from Caesar Rondeen. Two tasks that sounded hard enough, but proved far tougher than Chan ever imagined.

This is a story built on secrets and riddled with lies. As Chan pushes the herd toward the northern line, Rondeen throws everything he has into stopping him. Yet even reaching the settlement called Whispering doesn’t end the trouble. Another man is already there, and he intends to fight tooth and nail to keep what he claims is his.

It’s not the strongest Fox tale I’ve read recently, but it’s still a solid yarn, packed with action, treachery, and enough twists to keep the reader guessing until the dust finally settles. Well written as usual and sure to have western readers enjoying the ride. 4.5/5

This book will be available from Wolfpack Publishing on the 11th of August. 

Get it here!