Red Sky Morning

The Epic True Story of Texas Ranger Company F

De: Joe Pappalardo

Narrado por: Chris Abell

The explosive and bloody true history of Texas Rangers Company F, hard men who risked their lives to bring justice to a lawless frontier

Between 1886 and 1888, Sgt. James Brooks of Texas Ranger Company F was engaged in three fatal gunfights, endured disfiguring bullet wounds, engaged in countless manhunts, was convicted for second-degree murder, and rattled Washington, DC, with a request for a pardon from the US president. His story anchors the tale of Joe Pappalardo’s Red Sky Morning, an epic saga of lawmen and criminals set in Texas during the waning years of the “Old West.”

Alongside Brooks are the Rangers of Company F, who range from a pious teetotaler to a cowboy fleeing retribution for killing a man. They are all led by Captain William Scott, who cut his teeth as a freelance undercover informant but is now facing the end of his Ranger career. Company F hunts criminals across Texas and beyond, killing them as needed, and are confident they can bring anyone to “Ranger justice.” But Brooks’s men may have met their match in the Conner family, East Texas master hunters and jailbreakers who are wanted for their part in a bloody family feud.

The full story of Company F’s showdown with the Conner family is finally being told, with long-dead voices being heard for the first time. This truly hidden history paints the grim picture of neighbors and relatives becoming snitches and bounty hunters, and a company of Texas Rangers who waded into the conflict only to find themselves over their heads—and in the fight of their lives.

©2022 Joe Pappalardo (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Not sure I like the writing style, BUT....

...the story surpasses a kind of helter-skelter and disjointed relation of events. Clearly, the scholarship is there, but the author's delivery of this history seem to jump from here to there, rendering the narrative somewhat confusing (at least to me) and even rambling...But who doesn't like tough men doing a tough job?

A good story

A lot of research apparently went into writing this book however I wish the narrator would have taken the time to research the correct pronunciation of East Texas towns and counties.

Texas History Like Never Before

The history of the Texas Rangers has long been one of a legacy. But they didn't always have the best reputations, and were not without scrapes and legal troubles.

This book follows Texas Ranger Company F, which was rather interesting on its own. There was a lot of history there, and many legal scrapes that the men found themselves in. I enjoyed the background that was given on each one, as much as was possible, and giving as much as they could without dropping anything that might be needed for drawing conclusions.

Overall, interesting book. There were a few places where I felt it bogged down a bit, but truly, it was enjoyable and kept me interested enough to keep reading and finish out the book. There were a few surprises in there, which I am not going to give away. Also, I found that some of the names were familiar to me from other areas of reading, or research that I had done for some of the courses that I am teaching.