
In the unforgiving Black Rim country, where cattle graze beside towering mountains and barbed wire is a stranger, life is measured by the crack of a rifle and the weight of a brand. The region’s residents are feared and respected, their reputations forged in endless dust, gunfire, and the relentless push of the frontier. This raw landscape sets the stage for a story that feels as vast and rugged as the open range itself.
Young Tom Lorrigan inherits more than just his father’s ranch; he inherits a legacy of hard‑won lessons born from tragedy. After losing his father in a brutal accident and watching each of his three brothers meet grisly ends, Tom learns that a gun must never linger in its holster, that the law is a fickle shadow, and that personal will cannot be surrendered. Now, at the helm of the Devil’s Tooth ranch, he wrestles with loneliness and a fierce drive to protect what remains, navigating a world where every sunrise brings a new test of courage.
Language
en
Duration
~7 hours (441K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2009-08-03
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1871–1940
One of the early stars of the Western novel, this prolific storyteller helped shape the genre with fast-moving tales of ranch life, humor, and frontier adventure. Writing under the pen name B. M. Bower, she built a wide readership with books like the popular Flying U series.
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