The Last of the Duanes

by Zane Grey

First published 1914

Amazon

4.3(719)

Buck Duane inherits a family reputation for deadly gunfighting and is driven outside the law after a killing in Texas. Life as a fugitive exposes him to men who have surrendered completely to violence, forcing him to recognise how easily his own skill with a gun could become the identity others expect him to accept.

A chance to assist the Texas Rangers offers another path. The novel follows Duane’s movement from outlawry toward service of the law, making the central conflict one of self-control and moral choice as much as pursuit. Frontier justice remains violent, but Duane must decide whether violence will be merely instinctive or used in defence of something beyond himself.