“Longhorns East,” by Johnny D. Boggs (Kensington)

Illinois cattle drover Tom C. Ponting reads the figures in a months-old Albany Journal: New York cattle market prices are $25 to $45 per animal, far more than he gets from cattle he’s sold in Milwaukee. Why not round up cattle in Texas, where he can buy them for a few dollars a head, and sell them in New York for far more?

So began what might be the most unusual cattle drive in U.S. history. Boggs takes this little-known true story and fictionalizes it in this absorbing novel. In Boggs’ account, Ponting has an added incentive to make the drive: He bets his surly would-be father-in-law $1,000 that he will deliver 150 cattle to New York by July 4. Lose the bet, and he’ll likely lose the girl.

Of course, Ponting starts out buying far more Texas longhorns, some 800, in fact. He heads to Texas where he encounters an outlaw and former enemy, who claims he’s reformed. Ponting hires him on the spot, and the two put together a crew of cowhands.

On the adventure-filled drive, they fight every obstacle known to cattlemen: rain, mud, quicksand, drought, Indians and rustlers, along with railroad hustlers and train wrecks. Not all of the men will survive.

Peopled with walk-on encounters with real historical characters such as Jesse Chisolm and Lawyer A. Lincoln, “Longhorns East” is as big a story as Texas. Boggs, a nine-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award, is an artist when it comes to writing about the West. His novels are a cut above the traditional Westerns being churned out today — and “Longhorns East” just might be the best of his books.

“Frontier Terror,” by Michael Rutter (Twodot)

We all know the West was a violent place. Just how dangerous is evident in “Frontier Terror.”

Take the case of Elizabeth Potts. She and her husband murdered a friend, then chopped up his body with an axe and buried the pieces in the basement. She was hanged in 1891, the only woman in Nevada history to meet such an unfortunate death.

Then there was the Chinese massacre in Los Angeles in which 19 men were hanged during a race riot. Some 500 vigilantes “were not only putting down a riot, but they were taking a stand on a moral issue. The so-called celestials were a threat to American decency and values, if not an outright evil,” writes author Michael Rutter.

“Frontier Terror” includes 19 episodes of violence in Western history. Most are familiar: the murder of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and the death of Billy the Kid.

There are chapters on Cattle Kate and the war on Powder River, the Mountain Meadows Massacre and Tom Horn. Lesser known to Colorado readers are the East Texas Regulator-Moderator war, the bloodiest range war in Texas history, and a look at the downside of the Texas Rangers.

Rutter writes a brief history of each episode, then sets it against the background of the times. (Note to the author: Men and sometimes women are hanged. Pictures are hung.)

“Redemption,” by Deborah J. Ledford (Thomas & Mercer)

When four Taos Pueblo women disappear, the sheriff’s department takes little interest. After all, the women are known to be drug addicts, always desperate for a fix. So it’s up to Sheriff’s Deputy Eva Duran to find the women. Among the missing are Paloma, Eva’s best friend and a well-known hoop dancer who began using drugs after an accident. She cares little about her career, but Eva knows she would never desert her son, Kai.

Kai knows something is wrong, and he insists he will accompany Eva as she searches for his mother. So does Cruz Romero, Eva’s love interest.

Eva is one tough lady. A member of the Taos Pueblo herself, she has faced discrimination as both a woman and an Indian. She wants to be named the pueblo’s police chief, but right now, she cares more about finding Paloma.

Eva believes the disappearances of the four women are connected. She’s suspicious of Alice, a nurse who’s suddenly shown up to administer to the Indians. Alice has been a familiar figure at hoop dances and is mesmerized by Paloma. But Eva can’t figure out why Alice would want to hurt or capture Paloma, let alone three other women.

“Redemption” is told in the voices of its various participants. The book is a nice look at the Taos Pueblo and its members and the beauty of the vast New Mexico land.