The Rainbow Trail

Written by Zane Grey

Narrated by Michael Prichard

John Shefford rode into Utah's valley in search of a new life, and when he met Fay Larkin, he knew he had found it. Even when she was charged with murder, he did not care. He had to have her. She was worth life itself.

Breaking her out of jail was the easy part. After that he had posses to worry about, violent bands of Indians to outrun, a murderous trek across a trackless waste, and a brutal passage through white water hell.

Hell, yes. Busting her out of jail had been a cinch. After that it really got tough.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Apr 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400179435

Zane Grey

Zane Grey (1872–1939) was an American writer best known for western literature. Born and raised in Ohio, Grey was one of five children from an English Quaker family. As a youth, he developed an interest in sports, history and eventually writing. He attended University of Pennsylvania where he studied dentistry, while balancing his creative endeavors. One of his first published pieces was the article “A Day on the Delaware" (1902), followed by the novels Betty Zane (1903) and The Spirit of the Border (1906). His career spanned several decades and was often inspired by real-life settings and events.

Reviews for The Rainbow Trail

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not nearly as good as Riders of the Purple Sage, but in the end it was worth it to get the continuation of the story of Jane and Lassiter. The main problem was the "hero" Shefford. He doesn't play well in this day and age ... more than once, I was growling at him to grow a pair. He was just a big ole coward by today's standards. But yet again, the descriptive passages were simply breathtaking. Between the harrowing climb, up and down treacherous cliffs and the ride down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, the descriptions were riveting. Who knew that I would start getting into westerners at this point in my life? Gotta love those public domain books!

[jpsnow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Illustrative of Grey's style but somewhat stilted relative to previous work.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My dad used to read Zane Grey's westerns but the only one I had read was Riders of the Purple Sage. This is the sequel to that book. My library's electronic media site offered the audiobook as a download and I decided it would be worth listening to. The story follows John Shefford, a failed preacher, who learned about 3 people who walled themselves up in a canyon 10 years ago from the Venters. The Venters intended to go back to rescue them but then they had a child. Shefford, taken by the story and especially by the fate of the young girl, Faye Larkin, decides to go out and find them. He rescues an Indian girl from the clutches of a white missionary and in doing so earns the respect of her brother, Nas Ta Bega. They become fast friends and work together to find Faye and the others. Shefford is told that the women in a village of sealed wives (i.e. second wives of Mormon elders) may know of Faye Larkin . So he goes there and becomes friendly with the women, especially one who is called the Sago Lily because of her great beauty. She tells him that Faye Larkin is dead which devastates Shefford but then he becomes enamoured of the Sago Lily. He can't stand the idea that this lovely young girl is the second wife of an old man who visits seldom. Matters come to a head when this man is killed and the Sago Lily is held for his murder. Taking into account when this was written I was impressed by how Grey described the women and the native Americans. Even the Mormons aren't all bad as one takes Faye's place in prison and another helps the fugitives flee down the Colorado River to safety. I would reccommend reading Riders of the Purple Sage before this one though.