7 h 52 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What separates a crooked trail from a straight one when hard country puts honor to the test?
In Crooked Trails and Straight, William MacLeod Raine brings you into the American frontier, a world of open country and hard riding. This Western adventure turns on the contrast in its title: crooked paths and straight ones, and the choices that give each its meaning.
Honor, outlaws, and the chance of redemption shape the book's appeal. Raine explores a frontier code that asks people to keep their word, protect the weak, and face trouble openly. The line between a decent person and an outlaw invites a closer look, beyond the simple label.
What you’ll discover
- Open country, hard riding Enter a frontier world where rough country gives adventure its grit and tests character.
- Honor under pressure Explore what it means to keep your word when the choices grow hard.
- Beyond the outlaw label Look past easy judgments to the uneasy line between law and decency.
- The pull of redemption Follow the idea of a fresh start in a world of crooked paths.
- A brisk Western spirit Enjoy Raine's plain, steady style and an old-fashioned appetite for adventure.
Who will love it
Readers who love Westerns with quick plots, cool-headed rangers, outlaws with grudges, and young love on the range, and who enjoy a story where loyalty and second chances matter as much as gunplay.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A drunken lark becomes a crime
- Tragedy at the Circle C
- Bail, a debt and a promise
- Life among the outlaws
- Listening at the wall
- Fame, friendship and a quiet love
- A robbery, a hat and a vanishing
- Clues in a hat and a cellar
- A captive, a feud and a compromise
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Curly FlandrauA reckless young cowhand and champion bronco rider who falls into crime and then works to repay the kindness of the Cullisons.
- Kate CullisonThe brave, quick-minded daughter of Luck Cullison who saves Curly from a lynching and fights to find her missing father.
- Luck CullisonA famous former sheriff and owner of the Circle C ranch, short of money and facing a sheepman's growing feud.
- Sam CullisonKate's wild young brother, who has left home and fallen under the influence of the outlaw Soapy Stone.
- Soapy StoneA cold, skilled outlaw who plots a train holdup and wants revenge on Luck Cullison by ruining his son.
- Dick MaloneyA steady Bar Double M rider with a dry wit who becomes Curly's loyal friend and helper.
- Cass FendrickA proud, sardonic sheepman who clashes with Luck over water and range, and who is drawn to Kate.
- Bucky O'ConnorA shrewd lieutenant of the Arizona Rangers who hunts down criminals with patience and humor.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 52 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Sentiers tortueux et sentiers droits
by William MacLeod Raine · 1913
Curly Flandrau steals horses on a drunken spree, then must save the family of the man he shot.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Crooked Trails and Straight is a Western novel by William MacLeod Raine, set in the dusty cattle country of southern Arizona in the early years of the twentieth century. It follows Curly Flandrau, a young cowhand who joins a horse-stealing scheme during a drunken spree and finds himself on the wrong side of the law before he has turned twenty-two.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A drunken lark becomes a crime
The story opens in Saguache, where Curly Flandrau drives a herd of horses into town with three companions. They are the red-haired Mac, the hard old outlaw Bad Bill Cranston, and the sullen ex-convict Lute Blackwell. They sell the horses to a buyer named Warren, who supplies the rebels in Mexico and pays about a third of their worth.
Curly meets his old friend Slats Davis, who works for the Hashknife outfit. He hides the theft from him, and he feels bad about it, since the two once shared everything. That night the young men sleep at the hotel while the older outlaws push on.
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What is Crooked Trails and Straight about?
It tells of Curly Flandrau, a young cowhand who joins a horse-stealing scheme, is nearly lynched, and is saved by Kate Cullison. He then tries to repay her family by rescuing her brother and father from outlaws and a sheepman.
Who is Soapy Stone in Crooked Trails and Straight?
Soapy Stone is a cold, skilled outlaw who runs a horse ranch in the hills. He holds a grudge against Luck Cullison for sending him to prison, and he plots a train holdup to ruin Luck's son Sam.
Where and when is Crooked Trails and Straight set?
The story is set in southern Arizona in the early twentieth century, in ranch country around the town of Saguache. Telephones, trains, rangers and movies appear alongside cattle drives, poker games and bronco contests.
The author
William MacLeod Raine
1871–1954 · American Western novelist
William MacLeod Raine (1871–1954) was an American novelist born in London, England. He moved to the United States in childhood and later lived in Denver, Colorado. He wrote Western and adventure novels in the first half of the twentieth century. His books include The Highgrader and Oh, You Tex!
More by William MacLeod Raine
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