Zane Grey

The Rainbow Trail Zane Grey

These days, we remember Zane Grey for his ninety novels set in America's West, including Lone Star Rangers and Riders of the Purple Sage. We may know that he was an inductee to the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

But the thing you really need to know about The Rainbow Trail is that it's the sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage, which may well be Grey's most-remembered work. Here John Sheppard is a preacher who becomes good friends with the Venters -- who always seemed haunted. Eventually, Mr. Venters reveals that he was once a horse rider for a woman named Jane Withersteen -- a rich Mormon -- and her adopted daughter Fay Larkin. However, Jane's churchmen were displeased with her association with non-Mormons -- and the evil Mormons drove them into a narrow valley, and trapped them there.

Venters had always intended on returning to the valley to search for the Jane and Fay, circumstances have prevented him from doing it. John Sheppard is fascinated by this story and wants to what he can to relieve the haunted look he sees in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Venters -- so he attempts to discover what happened to Jane and Fay. He discovers that Fay Larkin may still be alive -- and that her life has become the stuff of adventure, including kidnapping! And that somehow she has the strength to survive the most terrible of circumstances. . . .