Publishers combined the two serials into The Lone Star Ranger, the first of Grey's works to top a best-seller list.

After running in with vigilante posses of homesteaders and nearly being lynched in a town he'd never been for a murder he didn't commit, he finally seeks out the ranger captain to discover he is wanted to infiltrate and break up an elusive gang of cattle rustlers in exchange for a pardon from the governor.

The story primarily takes place in the historical region of the Nueces Strip in South Texas, following Buck's fleeing from his hometown.

The later portion of the novel is set around the Big Bend Country geographical region, with the author noting Mount Ord to be home to Cheseldine's outlaw den.

Once broken, the outlaw starts a downward spiral that erodes his humanity as he runs from a harsh justice to an even harsher frontier filled with desperate men.