Riders of the Purple Sage has long been considered the most popular Zane Grey novel. From the start, the novel was a sensation and the public immediately began clamoring for a sequel. Though a sequel (Rainbow Trail) did indeed follow just a few years later, it was dramatically altered from the form that Grey intended. Finally, after nearly ninety years, the sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage has been restored from Grey's original manuscript, and the novel has been published under Grey's original title, The Desert Crucible. At last, fans can read the story of Lassiter, Jane Withersteen, and young Fay Larkin, exactly as Zane Grey intended. If you enjoyed Purple Sage, you will enjoy The Desert Crucible, just like Grey wrote it so many years ago.
Bob Roberts fancies himself the town dandy. But any money Roberts has is from crooked gambling and petty cons. His latest scheme is to get his hands on an assayer's report about a possible strike in the area. But, he can't steal the letter in town, so he goes out to lie in wait along the mail route . . . in the middle of hostile Indian territory. Old Man Duggan describes himself as brave, but to the rest of Gila City, Duggan is nothing more than a drunkard whose glory days--if there were any--are long past. To prove his claims, he volunteers to deliver the mail across the dangerous ground. When Apaches attack the mail run, Duggan and Roberts have no choice but to team up in a desperate fight for their lives.
