Jonathan Davis

A collection of the year's best stories selected by celebrated two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward

In her introduction to The Best American Short Stories 2021, guest editor Jesmyn Ward says that the best fiction offers the reader a "sense of repair." The stories in this year's collection accomplish just that, immersing the reader in powerfully imagined worlds and allowing them to bring some of that power into their own

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Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor.

“Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively,” writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. “It was difficult—painful even—to narrow

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The Civil War has ended, and Union soldiers and federal officials have taken control of Texas as Rusty Shannon rides to his home on the Colorado River. As a child, he was a captive of the Comanche, as a young man a proud member of a ranging company protecting settlers from Indian raids. Shannon's fate is intertwined with the young man accompanying him: Andy Pickard, himself but recently rescued from Comanche captivity and known by his captors as Badger...

The Civil War is over and Confederate Texas is reluctantly yielding to Union military peace-keepers and regulations imposed by Washington. David "Rusty" Shannon is the member of a "ranging company" attempting to protect Texas settlers from Comanche depredations. He learns that the rangers are being disbanded. He makes his way home to his farm on the Colorado River, and discovers that the land around his home is filled with hostiles—Indians,...

Ranger Andy Pickard is assigned to the Texas-Mexico border, along with Len Tanner and Farley Brackett, to help stop rival cattle barons, Texan Jericho Jackson and Mexicano Guadalupe Chavez, who rob each other, and any ranchers in their path, driving the stolen animals across the border. Caught in the crossfire is rancher Big Jim McCawley and his family. A showdown is looming, and the only hope for avoiding bloodshed is the Texas Rangers.

Donley Bannister shot and killed Cletus Slocum for stealing and crippling one of his best horses. He ran, leaving his wife Geneva behind. She sets off to find him, with Ranger Andy Pickard on her trail, hoping she'll lead him to Donley. Cletus' brothers are on the road, too, seeking revenge. Along the way, Andy discovers that the innocent and devoted Geneva may have made the mistake of marrying the wrong man, and that her husband may be a moral man...