West of the Pecos: A Western Story

Zane Grey was a "formula" writer, and he was the one who created the "formula", the modern western novel. And he used the same plot devices in many of his books. This one uses the girl pretending to be a boy scheme to protect the innocent young girl from being treated harshly by the other drovers. Terrill Lambeth is now an orphan, her father having died, and her adventures are the basis of this story. The fact she can ride and shoot doesn't hurt, but before long, Pecos Smith, the hard riding, fast shooting "man" of the bunch discovers he is a she. And you can probably already imagine the scenarios that follow. This is a "traditional" western, the kind one associates with Zane Grey; it has the broad use of language and the vivid descriptions of the locale he is known for. It is a book well worth reading, and more than once.