Rhino Ranch

In his signature, elegiac prose, Larry McMurtry bids a heartfelt farewell to Duane Moore and the transformative town of Thalia, Texas, in Rhino Ranch, the concluding novel of the Duane Moore saga. Returning home after a near-fatal heart attack, Duane arrives in Thalia to find his once-dusty oil patch town transformed. His new neighbor, resilient billionaire K.K. Slater, has established Rhino Ranch, a wildlife nature preserve dedicated to preserving endangered black rhinos on former ranchland. Feeling estranged from the world he helped build, Duane reflects on past loves, fading opportunities, and the shifting values of a small-town America in flux. As he observes the convergence of wildlife conservation, economic change, and new romantic possibilities with K.K., he’s forced to grapple with loss, memory, and identity. With humor, warmth, and bittersweet wisdom, Rhino Ranch elegantly closes the Duane Moore series. It’s a moving American literary fiction journey rooted in Texas tradition, exploring themes of aging, family legacy, and the endurance of spirit.