Caprock, Texas, is a sleepy cow town until oil is discovered in the 1920s. Suddenly thousands of people stream in to find their fortune. Some are honest folk like Elise and Victor Underwood, who pray for a little luck with their daily bread. But too many are two-bit swindlers. And then there's frontier mobster Big Boy Daugherty. Sheriff Dave Buckalew faces a whole different set of circumstances as his town springs to life--in good and not-so-good ways. The town of Caprock is loosely based on Crane in West Texas, where Kelton grew up, although Crane did not exist until the oil boom. Honor at Daybreak represents a departure for Kelton. There is no single dominant figure. Although Sheriff Buckalew represents a quiet strength that binds his town together, this is a book in which an entire community joins together to save itself.

Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was an award-winning author of more than forty novels. He won seven Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He was also the recipient of the Owen Wister Lifetime Achievement award. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. He also wrote sixteen works of nonfiction. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, served in the infantry in World War II, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. In addition to his novels, he worked as an agricultural journalist for forty-two years.