Finished! Last night I finished the last of the nine books I was reading and reviewing for Library Journal. I didn’t finish until until 8 PM, though, so I’m calling on a review from Kevin Tipple. I should have one of my own on Wednesday. Thank you, Kevin, for sharing the review of the 2024 book, All the Rage in Texas by Russ Hall.

All The Rage In Texas: An Al Quinn Novel by Russ Hall is the latest
reading in the long running and very good series that started with To Hell
And Gone In Texas. This one begins with Bonnie out in Al Quinn’s truck
with Little Al in his car seat in the back seat. Both are nearly killed when
she tried to merge onto a local highway as a speeder decides to cut her off.
She slides off onto the shoulder as the truck barrels by with the driver either
shaking his fist or flipping her off.

She doesn’t know what he was thinking or doing acting like that. It takes
several minutes for her to calm down. Eventually, when there is a long gap
in traffic, she pulls out and resumes her trip home.

Unfortunately, the truck is sitting a half mile down the divided roadway.
Knowing that such incidents have resulted in drivers being shot, she
decides to pull back on the side of the road. She also pulls her gun out of
her purse in case she needs it. Bonnie is a good shot and is ready if the
other driver wants to escalate things farther.

He does as he starts back towards the truck firing shots. She answers back
with her .38. As the man is undeterred and continues to advance on her,
she gets into the glove box. Bonnie pulls out Al’s Glock and returns fire.
She hits the guy in the left thigh. He spins, loses his gun, and hits the
asphalt. With the shooter down and weaponless for a few minutes, she
takes the chance to drive by at high speed, and flee the scene.

She calls for help and soon Al, his wife, Fergie, and his brother, Maury,
meet her and assess the situation. In addition to damage to the truck,
Bonnie’s sure the guy got the license plate of Al’s truck.

Bonnie was right because they soon find the wounded man at their house
at Lake Travis. The man has his gun and, when nobody comes to answer
the door, fires a shot through the door, wounding Al’s dog, Tanner.
Justifiably engaged, it takes everything in Al not to solve the issue
immediately. Instead, Al tackles him, cuffs him to a nearby faucet, and
rushes his dog to a nearby vet as members of the Sheriffs Department
arrive.

Tanner is soon patched up and the whole family is back together. It
becomes clear that the whole family is the target of Ketchum and his group.
Sprung by Biff Groton from the hospital where Ketchum was being treated
for his injuries, Ketchum and the group goes on a crime spree seeking
vengeance on Bonnie, Al, and the rest of the family. Good thing Al worked
for the Sheriffs Department for a long time and has lots of friends.

They are going to need them in this fast paced read. Stopping Ketchum
and his crew is going to take some doing in this enjoyable read. One that
highlights the ongoing and steadily worsening road rage situation here in
Texas where things are not getting better.

My reading copy was purchased in early February 2024 before publication
day.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024