I love short stories and I love westerns so LAW OF THE LAND is a must read for me. Elmer Kelton is a skilled writer who brings the western eras to life with characters and communities that are true to the period. This book contains 16 short stories that are just the right length to read in between meetings and appointments are while sitting on the porch in the evenings. It's a perfect choice to gift to a friend who loves westerns.

Elmer Keaton is a great storyteller. This western is an easy read because the story is compelling page turner. If you are a fan of western fiction you will love this book.

In the 1950's (and a few decades prior) it was pretty easy to find and read some short western fiction if that was your literature of choice. There were scores of western pulps. Today, western readers are generally limited to a few publishers of western novels by a very few western writers.
Law of the Land is a collection of short western fiction by Elmer Kelton, an author whose works have spanned many decades - from 1948 ("There's Always Another Chance" originally published in Ranch Romances) to 2010 ("The Ghost of Two Forks" originally published in Ghost Towns, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis). That's an incredible period of work for anyone!

I enjoy reading western fiction (I think I'm among a dying breed) and enjoy short fiction, so a book like this is very much appreciated. That said, everything included in this collection is very well written and an enjoyable read and at the same time, nothing here stands out as being exceptional. This is exactly the kind of book I might select or recommend for a vacation read. They can be read with a limited amount of available reading time.

What makes each of these stories work is that they are about people. In every story, an individual stands out and rises up to solve an issue. These people are clearly drawn and seem so real and act in ways we expect people to react.

This book contains the following:

"The Fugitive Book"
"Jailbreak"
"Biscuits for a Bandit"
"There's Always Another Chance"
"Born to be Hanged"
"O'Malley's Wife"
"In the Line of Duty"
"Relics"
"North of the Big River"
"The Ghost of Two Forks"
"Lonesome Ride to Pecos"
"Apache Patrol"
"The Last Indian Fight in Kerr County"
"Uncle Jeff and the Gunfighter"
"Sellout"
"Die by the Gun"
Looking for a good book? Law of the Land by Elmer Kelton is a really good collection of short, western fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

basic western, I enjoyed it but it was a bit too classic western and didn't really feel as gritty as I like them. but then I'm a die hard Louis Lamour fan