Ten and Me [Hardcover]

Like the "double-dimer" thrillers of the Old West, Boggs's second novel (after Hannah and the Horseman) comes complete with a generic fast-moving plot, "cliffhanger" chapter endings and a burgeoning cast of villainous characters. The guileless narrator and protagonist of this miniature epic is Jack Mackinnon. A failed postwar farming effort sends Jack to Texas, where a terrible toothache puts him in the way of a consumptive dentist, Tenedore Keough, "Ten." The pair eventually join the Texas Rangers, then lapse into outlawry before finally becoming peace officers again. Their exploits are publicized by the lovely and innocent hack writer Robin Hunter in a series of "penny dreadfuls" featuring "Ranger Jack" and his intrepid companion, "Ten." The immense popularity of the books makes the "pards" famous, but it also exposes them to dangerous challenges from envious gunmen. Through it all, Jack always stands up for justice, while Ten flirts with the seamier side of life. Romantic liaisons between Ten and Robin and between Ranger Jack and a ranger's beautiful daughter keep the tale moving in the gaps between explosive scenes of gunplay and vicious struggles involving the forces of good and evil in the Old West. Informed by accurate detail in almost every regard, the tale only rarely slips into anachronism or error. Boggs's narrative voice captures the old-fashioned style of the past and reminds a reader of the derring-do of western legends of yesteryear. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ten and Me is Johnny D. Boggs' eighth book for AVALON. He is also the author of This Man Colter, The Curse of Dunbar's Gold, and the popular Hannah and the Horseman series.

They are unlikely partners: Jack MacKinnon, an even-tempered drifter and part- time gunsmith, and Tenedore Keogh, a consumptive dentist-turned-gunman looking for a quicker way to die. Recruited by the Texas Rangers because of their prowess with guns, MacKinnon and Keogh become national celebrities through the novels of Robin K. Hunter---the woman both men love.

Fame has its price, however, as the two men attract bitter enemies across the West. Despite their differences, Ten and Ranger Jack stick together until a range war forces them to take a stand---against each other.

Johnny D. Boggs once played hooky from high school to watch Fort Apache, and spends most of his vacations traipsing around historical sites, ghost towns, and boneyards in the American West. His works have appeared in Boy's Life, Louis L'Amour Western Magazine, and other publications. A member of the Western Writers of America, he lives with his wife, Lisa Smith, and basset hound, Scout, in Dallas, Texas.