They built a nation with their blood and courage. But with the battle of Texas Independence fought and won and the Union being torn apart by civil war, a new threat is born in the brutal border town of Brownsille.
Heroic soldier John Henry McAllen thinks his fighting days are over -- until the corrupt sheriff of Brownsville is gunned down by a Mexican ex-soldier and Governor Sam Houston declares martial law. His Rangers are soon outclassed and outgunned, and a volunteer troop called the Brownsville Tigers is born. But when their newest recruit, Gideon McAllen, is taken captive, John Henry must cross the Rio Grande into a treacherous, violent frontier. With only a few Black jack fighters at his side, he will save his son -- or die trying.
The acclaimed author of The Black Jacks and Texas Bound gives us an authentic, action-packed novel of war, honor, and betrayal in the sprawling rough-and-tumble land called Texas.
1998 by Jason Manning Signet Books (New York) 352 pp ISBN: 0-451-19145-5
I liked everything about this book. The story is based around an actual event,, what became known as The Cortinas War which occurred along the Texas-Mexico border on the eve of the Civil War. The encore of McAllen and his Black Jacks was, I thought, a better narrative than the previous novel which featured them, and the "Brownsville sub-plot" that involved a love triangle and town politics was a good story in it's own right. And, finally, I thought the cover art and text was excellent.