Zane
1) Wildfire
From the imagination of renowned Western writer Zane Grey comes Wildfire, the gripping tale of a man, a woman, and a remarkable horse. The three are thrown together through a series of circumstances that give rise to a once-in-a-lifetime bond. One of Grey's most emotionally compelling works, this novel combines pulse-pounding action and nuanced insight into the ties that bind us together.
3) Betty Zane
The historical novel Betty Zane was famed Western writer Zane Grey's first published book. The plucky protagonist was an ancestor of Zane Grey who fought ferociously during the Revolutionary War, serving as a key go-between during several battles against the British and their Native American allies.
Think the Old West was nothing but outlaws and cowboys? Think again. In The Young Forester, acclaimed Western writer Zane Grey follows the death-defying adventures of a forest fireman, one of the many brave souls who laid his own safety on the line to make the wild terrain of the region safe and inhabitable.
Though protagonist Buck Duane is a rough-and-tumble outlaw, he has a heart of gold and takes it as a point of pride that he has never killed an innocent man. Will Buck see the error of his ways and forge a new path for himself? Read Zane Grey's powerful tale of redemption to find out.
Though Zane Grey is often associated with novels about the American West, many of his early works are historical fiction centered on the Ohio Valley towns where Grey himself grew up. The Spirit of the Border is a sequel to the earlier novel Betty Zane. The book offers a fictionalized account of the exploits of Lew Wetzel, a pioneering figure who fought for the protection of early settlements in the Midwest.
The inspiration for several Western movies, Zane Grey's The Border Legion tells the tale of hardened gunslinger Jack Kells, who finds his gruff facade melting when he encounters Joan Randle, a spunky heroine who has been captured by a militia stationed near the Idaho border.
The Man of the Forest combines many of the elements that have drawn millions of readers to Zane Grey's work for nearly a century -- plucky heroines, gorgeous descriptions of landscape, a gruff but brave and virtuous protagonist, and of course, a thrilling action-adventure plot. When long-time solitary man Milt Dale stumbles across news that a kidnapping is being planned, he takes it upon himself to protect the sisters targeted by the nefarious
...This sequel to Zane Grey's enormously popular Riders of the Purple Sage picks up ten years after the events of the previous novel. Tragedy has befallen the community of Surprise Valley, and changing views among the largely Mormon populace have begun to create rifts in the community. The Rainbow Trail includes plenty of the adventure and romance that fans of Zane Grey's work have come to love.
10) Desert Gold
Though Zane Grey's Western novels are always packed with plenty of pulse-pounding action and adventure, they are also philosophical and sophisticated, which often comes as an unexpected surprise to first-time readers of his work. Desert Gold contains the best of what made Zane Grey one of the most renowned writers of Westerns—sweet romance, action-packed thrills, heartrending descriptions of the Western landscape, and plenty of thought-provoking
...Zane Grey, renowned as an author for his portrayals of the rugged Wild West, completed his first Western, The Heritage of the Desert, in just four months in 1910. This compelling work which deals powerfully with Mormon culture in Utah in 1890 rapidly became a bestseller.
12) To the Last Man
Imagine if Romeo and Juliet were set among the sheep ranching families of Arizona. Add in a heavy dash of frontier action and adventure, and that neatly sums up the plot of Zane Grey's To the Last Man, which follows a blossoming romance among members of feuding clans in the vast open plains of the Wild West.
Like many of Zane Grey's Western novels, The Last of the Plainsmen draws on copious research to present a rollicking tale that celebrates the anything-goes ethos and frontier spirit of the Wild West in its heyday. This account follows the exploits of Charles "Buffalo" Jones, a renowned hunter and free spirit who later emerged as an important advocate for the conservation of buffalo and bison.
Though Zane Grey is best remembered as one of the most renowned writers of Western fiction, he also had an abiding interest in baseball rooted in his own stint as a baseball player for the University of Pennsylvania. Grey wrote a number of tales that take place on or around the baseball field; The Redheaded Outfield and Other Baseball Stories collects the very best of his sports fiction.
When the wealthy Alfred Wingate dies, his personal assistant, Cynthia, is utterly confused. He has left her his mansion in his will! Cynthia thought she was in love with Alfred's grandson Graham. But when she finds out he is cheating, she breaks off the engagement. But the terms of the will won't allow her to refuse the inheritance, and she's stuck with the mansion. On top of all this, Graham's brother, Rick, treats her with contempt, believing
...Though Zane Grey is best remembered as a writer of Westerns, the prolific novelist also tackled social issues in a series of books chronicling World War I. In The Day of the Beast, protagonist Daren Lane returns to the United States after years on the battlefield, only to find that the mood of the country has shifted. This historical novel is as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1922.
19) The Last Trail
Though Zane Grey's body of work in the Western genre reveals a prodigious imagination, many of his stories had a strong historical grounding, based in part on the lives and experiences of Grey's own ancestors. The Last Trail, the final entry in Grey's Ohio River Trilogy, expertly combines elements of romance and adventure in a gripping tale that pits protagonist Jonathan Zane against several nefarious rivals.