Border Raiders

BORDER RAIDERS is the second novel in James J. Griffin's series about Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk, and it's even better than the first one, TROUBLE RIDES THE TEXAS PACIFIC. The previous book had some strong mystery elements, but BORDER RAIDERS is pure Western adventure, perhaps closer in tone to a war novel than anything else. The plot is simple: Blawcyzk becomes the second-in-command of a troop of some fifty Rangers sent to the Nueces Strip in South Texas to put a stop to the rustling going on there, and while they're at it, they have to track down a band of renegade Comanche warriors, too. The pace is rather leisurely at first, as Griffin does a good job of introducing the various Rangers, but once the action starts it seldom lets up, and by the end of the book the reader can't be sure which of the Rangers will make it back alive and which ones won't. This is a fine traditional Western, the sort of book that probably would have easily found a home with a major publisher in an earlier time when the market was stronger. It's available from the various on-line booksellers and from the publisher, iUniverse.