Desert Gold Author:Zane Grey A border town like Casita is no place for a drifter - especially a rich man's son looking for adventure. From the moment Dick Gale steps into the stinking, sun-baked hellhole of gambling and corruption, revolution, and revenge, he gets more than he bargained for. His old friend Thorne is in love with a beautiful Senorita who's been targe... more »ted by Mexican rebel Rojas. A bold, sneering devil of a man, feared, envied, and idolised by his people, Rojas spends gold like he sills blood - and collects women like trinkets. Gale knows that defying such a man could be suicide. Defeating him is his only chance to survive - in a brutal one-on-one battle on the parched desert cliffs.« less
One of the earlier works by Zane Gray, as it is the 12th book he published. A fine story of a college man redeeming himself in the American Southwest of the early 20th century.
Obviously, some of the terms and phrases Gray uses to describe non-whites are not politically correct today, but he also comes down heavily on a white man and his son.
Yet this story is full of action, brave men (American, Mexicans, Indians), strong women, wonderful horses, and the beautiful but savage land and weather of the desert, which plays no favorites to any race and is not swayed to help those who are evil or good.
Is it any wonder that Zane Gray's stories were turned into 112 movies.