10 Novels That Would Be Perfect Taylor Sheridan Shows
Taylor Sheridan has carved out a singular space in film and TV, where brooding antiheroes ride across sun-bleached landscapes, justice is murky, and violence simmers just beneath the surface of family, loyalty, and land. With Yellowstone, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, and Tulsa King, he’s shown a knack for adapting frontier morality to both period epics and gritty contemporary dramas.
Fans of his work are in luck, since plenty of books out there explore similar themes and plots to Sheridan’s famous shows. This list will discuss ten novels that are practically begging to be turned into a Sheridan show. Each of these literary words is bursting with the kind of tough men, harsh terrain, and emotional weight that define his work, to the point where we’re surprised they haven’t made it to the small screen yet.
10
‘The Highway’ (2013)
by C.J. Box
“I’m going to work it from the inside.” The first in a four-part series, this fast-paced thriller begins when two teenage sisters vanish while on a road trip through Montana. Their disappearance sets off a desperate search led by ex-cop Cody Hoyt and his new partner, Cassie Dewell. As they trace the girls’ path along the remote highways of the American West, they uncover a chilling pattern of unsolved murders tied to a mysterious long-haul trucker.
The Highway is a tightly wound novel, heavy with suspense and atmosphere. Author C.J. Box keeps the reader hooked from the get-go, drawing them into a world where violence is always a step away, and every character seems to have something to hide. It features many of the most beloved Western tropes: the rural backdrop, the lawman with a haunted past, the shadowy threat lurking in plain sight. The third act falters a little, feeling a little hollow, but the brisk pacing and memorably loathsome antagonists should please many crime fanatics.
9
‘Hard Winter’ (2015)
by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
“It has been said that it’s hard to stop a man who knows he’s in the right and just keeps on coming.” In a parallel to Yellowstone, Hard Winter is a bold, multigenerational saga of two ranching dynasties. Spanning 132 years, from 1891 through 2023, the book weaves together alternating timelines, both of which involve cruel winters and heavy blizzards. In one, a sheriff takes on near-impossible search-and-rescue missions; in the other, his ancestor pursues a brutal killer.
Coldness permeates the whole tale, in the snow-choked landscapes and threatening avalanches, but also many of the characters. Hard Winter is a harsh, elemental story that seems perfectly suited to Sheridan’s storytelling talents. In his hands, this book would become a visceral, snowbound survival series with morally gray frontiersmen and cutthroat stakes. There’s adventure, family drama, inventive narrative structures, and a vivid recreation of Montana’s wild frontier, both then and now.
8
‘All the Pretty Horses’ (1992)
by Cormac McCarthy
“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.” Set in post-World War II Texas, this coming-of-age novel from Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian, The Road) centers on 16-year-old John Grady Cole as he flees his family’s crumbling ranch and rides into Mexico with dreams of becoming a cowboy. What begins as a romantic journey quickly unravels into a brutal tale of love, betrayal, and survival, all rendered in McCarthy’s sparse, poetic prose.
Cole’s journey becomes an odyssey that carries him through the ruins of a world that no longer exists. In McCarthy’s hands, this story becomes not just a tale of personal loss but a broader meditation on the vanishing of entire ways of life. It’s the perfect foundation for the kind of brooding character studies Sheridan excels at, and McCarthy’s blend of romance and raw violence matches the tone of projects like Hell or High Water.
7
‘This Calder Range’ (1982)
by Janet Dailey
“Hopes die and man moves on, but the land stays.” Another sweeping family saga spanning generations, This Calder Range introduces Chase Calder, a determined rancher building a cattle empire. Through ambition, loyalty, and betrayal, the Calders grow from modest roots into one of the wealthiest families in the West. The novel brims with classic themes—inheritance, grit, revenge, and the unrelenting pull of bloodlines. It’s part romance, part Western, and part dynastic drama, with plenty of interpersonal fireworks.
This could be Sheridan’s next Yellowstone-sized canvas. The Calder family’s rise echoes the infamous Dutton family, with ranching, territorial politics, and long-held grudges driving the narrative forward. It’s bold, dusty, and filled with hard choices—and that’s exactly Sheridan’s terrain. Sure, some of these tropes are a little overdone, but This Calder Range breathes some new life into them, spicing them up with impressive details, a ton of drama, and more than a few steamy scenes.
6
‘The Son’ (2013)
by Philipp Meyer
“They do not admit to themselves that you only get rich by taking things from other people.” Philipp Meyer‘s The Son has already been adapted into a show (starring Pierce Brosnan of all people), but it got tepid reviews; Sheridan could probably do a better job with it. Narrative-wise, The Son chronicles three generations of the McCullough family, beginning with Eli McCullough, kidnapped by Comanches in the 1800s, and following his descendants into the 20th-century oil boom. It’s an American epic told in fractured timelines, blending brutality and ambition.
The book was generally acclaimed, with specific praise for its layered, damaged characters and genre thrills. The Son is a compelling potboiler, filled with pulpy pleasures—passionate love affairs, illicit sex, generational strife, and the moral decay that accompanies wealth and power. Yet beneath these crowd-pleasing elements, there’s also a lot of food for thought, particularly around power, identity, and violence.
5
‘Desperation Road’ (2017)
by Michael Farris Smith
“How could you imagine the complexities of what might come?” After eleven years in prison, Russell Gaines returns to his Mississippi hometown looking for peace, only to find it haunted by old grudges and new trouble. There, he crosses paths with a homeless woman and her daughter fleeing abuse, their fates soon intertwining. The premise might not sound like anything special, but Michael Farris Smith‘s writing significantly elevates it, marked by shapely prose and razor-sharp, crackling dialogue.
Plus, the author has a keen eye for the moments—small but crucial—that reveal character and add depth to this tight-knit, often unforgiving small town. The result is a noir-flavored Southern drama full of broken people. This brooding atmosphere is frequently illuminated by moments of intense, high-stakes action, keeping the pages turning. Sheridan thrives in these morally murky waters, and Desperation Road would make for a lean, emotionally potent series. Think Wind River with more Southern Gothic overtones.
4
‘Where All Light Tends to Go’ (2015)
by David Joy
“There was a place where all light tends to go, and I reckon that was heaven.” Set in the valleys of Appalachia, this dark tale follows 18-year-old Jacob McNeely, son of a feared drug kingpin, as he contemplates escaping the brutal world he’s inherited. Torn between his loyalty to family and his yearning for a better life with the girl he loves, Jacob spirals through violence and heartbreak. His story is bleak and punishing but compelling.
This is a quintessential Sheridan story — gritty, intimate, and steeped in fatalism. The novel’s exploration of inherited violence and identity fits right into his wheelhouse. The book as a whole received generally positive reviews, with many praising the powerful contrast between the ugliness of the subject matter and the beauty of the prose. The writing is stark but haunting, and the storytelling pulls no punches in its depiction of a world where tenderness is rare and survival often demands cruelty.
3
‘American Rust’ (2009)
by Philipp Meyer
“Everyone had their iron coming to them.” In a decaying Pennsylvania steel town, two young men—Billy Poe and Isaac English—become entangled in a murder that shatters what’s left of their futures. As the fallout spreads, the book paints a portrait of a dying American dream, revealing how family, class, and personal sacrifice shape the trajectory of its characters’ lives. In the process, American Rust becomes a Steinbeck-esque statement on working-class desperation and fractured masculinity.
This sounds like heavy going, and it is, with its exploration of broken systems and people, but Philipp Meyer also never loses sight of the characters’ humanity. He demonstrates a keen psychological insight, inviting readers into their inner workings. The narrative is both intimate and socially conscious, making it ideal for a prestige series that isn’t afraid to sit with discomfort. Its small-town grit, emotional nuance, and fatal choices echo the bleak moral tone of Sicario and Mayor of Kingstown.
2
‘Lonesome Dove’ (1985)
by Larry McMurtry
“I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.” This Pulitzer Prize winner follows two retired Texas Rangers, Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae, as they drive a cattle herd from the Rio Grande to Montana. Along the way, they confront ghosts of their past, face Indian raids and borderland violence, and contend with a rapidly changing frontier. It’s a mix of a Western adventure and a meditation on friendship, aging, and loss.
Not for nothing, the book is widely regarded as not just a classic Western but one of the great American novels, making it a rewarding read for any bookworm. In particular, Lonesome Dove does a good job of exploring the complexities of the frontier spirit. Be warned, however, at 843 pages long, Lonesome Dove is admittedly a little daunting. While already adapted for television, Sheridan could reimagine the story with a darker, more psychologically grounded take. The slow, epic journey mirrors the moral odysseys in his other work.
1
‘Bull Mountain’ (2015)
by Brian Panowich
“It’s not your fault, you’re just not from here.” Another big-canvas family story, Bull Mountain focuses on the Burroughs family—moonshiners turned drug runners—who have ruled their rural Georgia mountain with violence and fear. But when Sheriff Clayton Burroughs, the one member who tried to escape the family legacy, faces a federal investigation that threatens to expose them all, loyalties are tested and long-buried secrets rise to the surface.
Bull Mountain is a dark, muscular debut, boasting electric dialogue, authentic details, and a striking examination of the brutal debts owed between kin. It reads like the work of a much more seasoned writer. Like a cross between Justified and Yellowstone, this story has deep family ties, rural corruption, and men who believe in justice on their terms. And, at just 290 pages, the book is refreshingly low on filler, making it one of the more accessible entries in this list.
