This is your basic Good Guys vs. Bad Guys story. A man of strong principles stands tall against corruption and injustice. It's all on the surface with not alot of depth or nuance. Now, that doesn't mean it's not a good story (I enjoyed it) but there really isn't much in the way of grey area as far as character motivation, subplot, or any of that sort of thing.

Texas Ranger Tom Bell, seen in the Texas Red River mystery books, gets what amounts to an origin story. I've only read one of the books in that series so I can't say for certain how much this connects to the overall series (my sense is that it's in the same world but not actually part of the series proper). I believe in the one I read that Ranger Bell was more of a supporting character so I would imagine fans of the series will enjoy having him front and center in this one.

It's 1931, Bell is on the trail of a wanted man down in East Texas. Amidst the booming oil industry, towns with names like Pine Top and Hog Eye are populated with hard working, hard living men who are out to make a living as well as greedy businessmen who are out to make a killing (literally, in some cases). In the course of finding his fugitive Ranger Bell gets tangled up in a land grab scheme that takes him from the East Texas oilfields to the mob controlled streets of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Though this is probably more a neo-Western than a "true" Western it fits the classic mold of the stoic lawman who comes to town and steps into a hornets nest. It's got a few good surprises with no major plot twists but there are frequent narrative asides that provide a closer look at some of the real history that inspired this story.

There are some racial slurs, violent imagery, and language that may not be suitable for more sensitive readers.

THE TEXAS JOB follows the story of Tom Bell a Texas Ranger, who arrives in a town near huge oil field (oil boomtowns) to catch a murderer. In search of this killer, he finds truths about ruthless capitalists, corrupt officers and gangsters who take advantage of the people mostly from the Native American Tribes living in or near the boomtown so they could get rich off the liquid gold flowing underneath the soil. Now its Tom Bell, a handful of Texas Rangers versus these criminals. Honestly this is the type of historical fiction I want to read. Daring and dashing..

From the author’s note at the end I understood how much he has researched for this story! The characters in this story are framed from the real events that happened in 1930s Texas. The author has also mentioned that this book would be a treat for the fans of his Texas Red River series, because this story tells the early life of Tom Bell who is also the MC in the historical action series set in 1960s. This is my first book from author Wortham, now I’m definitely going to look into his other works, just because reading this book felt like a thrilling action movie with fast paced storyline!

Overall, The story is as rich as the history of Texas. Add to your tbr, this book,comes out next year!! Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for the arc via Netgalley.

Organized crime, Prohibition, and oil boom meet Texas Ranger, and guess who wins. Excellent story with a strong protagonist bring East Texas to life in a thrilling, action-packed adventure