"The Coyote Tracker"

Larry D. Sweazy's Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger western novels include The Rattlesnake Season, The Scorpion Trail, The Badger's Revenge, The Cougar's Prey, and The Coyote Tracker.

Sweazy applied the Page 69 Test to The Coyote Tracker and reported the following:

Is page 69 relevant to the story in The Coyote Tracker? Absolutely. Josiah Wolfe’s friend, and fellow Texas Ranger, Scrap Elliot, finds himself accused of murder and in jail. While there, a jailbreak occurs, that may, or may not, be related to a string of murders occurring in town. Josiah must use all of the resources he has to get Scrap out of jail before his friend finds himself dangling at the end of a hangman’s noose. Of course, everything is not as it seems, and Josiah’s quest to free Scrap is fraught with more danger than he realizes. There’s a new railroad coming into Austin, and there’s a lot money to be made or lost, if things don’t go as they should. Weakening the Texas Rangers is advantageous to those behind the plot to protect themselves, and see an innocent man hanged.

From The Coyote Tracker:

Scrap was laying on his cot at the back of the cell, staring at the ceiling. A veil of silence had come over the jail as two deputies patrolled the hall, their weapons brandished firmly in wait for the slightest reason to use them.

The hole still gaped and would have to be protected until it was closed up. That wasn’t Josiah’s problem. It was Rory Farnsworth’s—along with rounding up the men who had busted Abram Randalls out of jail in the first place.

What was Josiah’s problem was Scrap and the situation at hand. Most importantly, whether or not the story Farnsworth had told him was true: Did Scrap stab a whore, run away, and did somebody see him do it? The sheriff seemed pretty confident that Scrap was as guilty as guilty can be.

“You come back with a key?” Scrap asked, hoisting himself up, spinning his legs over the side of the cot.

Josiah shook his head no. “Looks like you’re stuck for the moment.” He faced Scrap and dropped the volume of his voice to just above a soft whisper.

“I gotta get out of here, Wolfe.”

Learn more about the book and author at Larry D. Sweazy's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Badger’s Revenge.

--Marshal Zeringue